Introduction to the special issue on structural stigma and health

• Published in: Social science & medicine (1982) Vol. 103; pp. 1 - 6
• Main Authors: Hatzenbuehler, Mark L., Link, Bruce G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.02.2014
• Subjects: Criticism; Goffman, Erving; Health; Health care; Health Status Disparities; Humans; Social interaction; Stereotyping; Stigma
• ISSN: 0277-9536; 1873-5347
• DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.12.017

Stimulated by the pioneering work of Goffman (1963), research into the causes and consequences of stigma has proliferated over the past five decades. Progress has been made in the construction of new concepts, measures, and methodological approaches that have illuminated how stigma works to the disadvantage of those targeted by it. The culmination of this intense scrutiny has created the capacity to more deeply understand this powerful human phenomenon, opening the possibility to address its unwanted effects. At the same time, in the midst of this growth and advancement, the stigma concept has been criticized on several fronts. One of the most consistent criticisms has been that stigma research is too individually focused (Link & Phelan, 2001; Parker & Aggleton, 2003). According to Oliver (1992), the central thrust of stigma research has been focused on the perceptions of individuals and the consequences of such perceptions for micro-level interactions, rather than on structural issues underlying stigma. In part to address this criticism, researchers have recently expanded the stigma construct to consider how broader, macro-social forms of stigma -- termed structural stigma -- may also disadvantage the stigmatized. [Copyright Elsevier Ltd.]