Sociological Perspectives

Sociological Perspectives Week 10 – Erving Goffman’s Stigma Dr. Maria do Mar Pereira m.d.m.pereira@warwick.ac.uk

The Interaction Order • For Goffman, the starting point of analysis is not the individual, the group or the social structure, but the interaction order. • The interaction order is the largely invisible and unspoken set norms and rituals (e.g. greetings, salutations) followed by members of a society in face-to-face encounters.

Stigma • An attribute that is ‘deeply discrediting’ (1963: 13), i.e. which ‘spoils’ an individual’s identity • ‘defects’ of the body (e.g. disability) • ‘defects’ of character (e.g. mental illness, addiction, gambling) • political or religious beliefs; membership in socially undervalued groups (e.g. racial and ethnic minorities; gender; sexuality) • It is ‘an undesired differentness from what we had anticipated’ (1963: 15).  IMPORTANT: a stigmatising attribute is always contingent (e.g. are ‘normals’ present? – 1963: 18) and relational; ‘it is neither creditable nor discreditable as a thing in itself’ (1963: 13)

Stigma and Discrimination • The separation of people into two categories – the ‘normals’ and those who are stigmatised in relation to a particular attribute – acts as the basis for, and legitimation of, discrimination. ‘By definition, of course, we believe the person with stigma is not quite human. On this assumption we exercise varieties of discrimination, through which we effectively, if often unthinkingly reduce his [sic] life chances. We construct a stigma theory, an ideology to explain his [sic] inferiority and account for the danger he [sic] represents, sometimes rationalizing an animosity based on other differences.’ (1963: 15) Example:

A Note on Language and Stigma ‘We use specifictermssuch as cripple, bastard, moron in ourdailydiscourse as a sourceofmetaphorandimagery, typicallywithoutgivingthought to the original meaning.’ (Goffman, 1963: 15) • e.g. in a recent survey of LGB students at a US university, Woodford et al (2012) found that social and physical well-being is negatively associated with hearing the phrase ‘that’s so gay’. ‘Some individuals believe words are not harmful and others minimize the effect of subtle, yet hostile, language such as “that’s so gay.” (…) This phrase is frequently tolerated on college campuses, even though it embodies heterosexism and may contribute to creating (…) a social environment that GLB students perceive as unwelcoming and exclusionary, if not outright hostile. (…) “That’s so gay” is a microaggression, not just an insensitive expression.’ (2012: 433)

A Note on Language ‘A characteristic task of these representatives [of stigmatised groups] is to convince the public to use a softer social label for the category in question.’ (Goffman, 1963: 37) From our Department’s UG Student Handbook (pp. 84-85): 8.5 Guidelines on Offensive Language PhysicalAppearance and Ability: Many terms in use ‘dehumanise’ people with disabilities, or assume that the loss of one faculty means that they do not possess other abilities! Do NOT use ‘the Handicapped’ – Rather ‘People living with a disability’, ‘wheelchair users’

Stigma and Discrimination Example: • The separation of people into two categories – the ‘normals’ and those who are stigmatised in relation to a particular attribute – acts as the basis for, and legitimation of, discrimination. ‘By definition, of course, we believe the person with stigma is not quite human. On this assumption we exercise varieties of discrimination, through which we effectively, if often unthinkingly reduce his [sic] life chances. We construct a stigma theory, an ideology to explain his [sic] inferiority and account for the danger he [sic] represents, sometimes rationalizing an animosity based on other differences.’ (1963: 15) Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLnv322X4tY&list=PL08E3C06A97617C13&index=5

The Encounter Between the ‘Normal’ and the Stigmatised • ‘When normals and stigmatized do in fact enter one another’s immediate presence, especially when they there attempt to sustain a joint conversational encounter, there occurs one of the primal scenes of sociology; for, in many cases, these moments will be the ones when the causes and effects of stigma must be directly confronted by both sides.’ (Goffman, 1963: 24) • These encounters generate complex and sociologically significant feelings, such as discomfort, uncertainty, shame, disgust, embarrassment.

Audre Lorde, Sister Outsider (1984)

The Encounter Between the ‘Normal’ and the Stigmatised • In these ‘mixed’ encounters, the grammar of interaction is distinctive in a range of ways; for example, • ‘minor failings or incidental impropriety may (…) be inter-preted as a direct expression of [the] stigmatized differentness. (…) “If a [normal] person gets into a similar difficulty, it is not regarded as symptomatic of anything in particular”.’ (1963: 26-27) • We see ‘the stigmatized individual [as] as person who can be approached by strangers at will, providing only that they are sympathetic to the plight of persons of his [sic] kind.’ (1963: 28)

The Encounter Between the ‘Normal’ and the Stigmatised • ‘Given what both the stigmatized and we normals introduce into mixed social situations, it is understandable that all will not go smoothly. (…) [Therefore, w]e may try to act as if he [sic] were a non-person, and not present at all as someone of whom ritual notice is to be taken.’ (1963: 26-27) ‘The consequence of a presentation (…) may be small, but in every contact there will be some consequences, which, taken together, can be immense.’ (1963: 65)

The Discredited and the Discreditable • Goffmandifferentiates between two different groups of stigmatised individuals: • the discredited’s‘differentness is known about already or is evident on the spot’ • the discreditable’s differentness ‘is neither known about by those present nor immediately perceivable’ (1963: 14) • Goffmanobservesthat ‘[t]his is an important difference, even though a particular stigmatized individual is likely to have experience with both situations’ (1963: 14). • One of the key reasons why this difference is so important sociologically is that it raises the issue of impression management among the stigma-tised – i.e. how is it that those who are potentially discreditable manage their presentation of self in order to avoid being discredited?

Managing a Spoiled Identity Individuals actively deploy a variety of strategies to negotiateeveryday interaction in order to avoid or minimise (their or others’) stigmatisation. They are ‘«on», having to be self-conscious and calculating about the impression [they are] making’ (1963: 25). These can be seen as strategies of information control, and what is at stake is not the management of tension – as above – but the management of information: ‘To display or not to display; to tell or not to tell; to let on or not to let on; to lie or not to lie; and in each case, to whom, how, when, and where.’ (Goffman, 1963: 57)

Managing a Spoiled Identity Strategies of information controlrequire managing for e.g. information, symbols (i.e. signs that convey social information), company, use of space, ‘daily rounds’, etc. • Passing • Successfully hiding a characteristic deemed to be problematic so as to be perceived and treated as ‘normal’ ‘Given these several possibilities that fall between the extremes of complete secrecy on one hand and complete information on the other, it would seem that the problems people face who make a concerted and well-organized effort to pass are problems that wide ranges of persons face at some time or other.’ (1963: 94-95)

Managing a Spoiled Identity • Covering • Mitigatingthe effects of what is perceived to be problematic; i.e. admitting ‘possession of the stigma’ but making ‘a great effort to keep the stigma from looming large’ (1963: 125). ‘[I]ndividuals with a stigma (…) may have to learn about the structure of interaction in order to learn about the lines along which they must reconstitute their conduct if they are able to [cover] their stigma. From their efforts, then, one can learn about features of interaction that might otherwise be too much taken for granted to be noticed.’ (1963: 127)

The Sociological Significance of Information Control ‘What are unthinking routines for normalscan become management problems for the discreditable. These problems cannot always be handled by past experience, since new contingencies always arise, making former concealing devices inadequate. The person with a secret failing, then, must be alive to the social situation as a scanner of possibilities, and is therefore likely to be alienated from the simpler world in which those around him [sic] apparently dwell.’ (Goffman, 1963: 110)

The Social Functions of Stigma ‘enlist support for society among those who aren’t supported by it’ ‘a means of formal social control’ ‘a means of removing (…) minorities from various avenues of competition’ (Goffman, 1963: 164-165) The established logics of interaction and meaning-making tend to reproduce and legitimate stigma and make it resistant to change; however, stigma can be and ‘is regularly changed by purposeful social action’ (1963: 164).

Assessment on Stigma • You are expected to conduct a close reading of Stigma in its entirety. • Your understanding of, and engagement with, Stigma will be assessed through a Group Podcast • worth 10% of your final module mark • lasting no more than 10 minutes, and presented in either audio or video format • discussing Stigma in an analytical and original way: e.g. play based on the book; radio phone-in programme; ‘interview’ with Goffman; documentary based on themes in the book; news report; book review, etc.

Assessment on Stigma • You will be working in groups of 4 to 6 people, from the same seminar group. • All members of the group must participate in the podcast. • Each working group will have its own webpage on the module website, and will upload their podcast to that page when ready. • Full instructions on how to upload the podcast will be provided by Chris Coe (Senior Academic Technologist) in the first lecture of term 2. • Deadline: podcast to be uploaded to correct group page by Tuesday 28th January 2014, at 2pm.

Useful Links • Reading notes on Stigma by David Harris • http://www.arasite.org/goffstig.html • A discussion of passing: • ‘The Pressure to Cover’: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/15/magazine/15gays.html?pagewanted=all

Sociological Perspectives