Stigma is a common phenomenon is the contemporary world. Goffman thinks it affects almost everyone at some point in their social life (Ritzer and Stepnisky 149). While there is no consensus on the accurate definition of the term stigma, it is generally understood to mean the negative feeling that engulfs an individual who is trapped in a wide gap between their actual self and their virtual self. According to Goffman, social stigma is the gap that exists between that which a person ought to be – virtual social identity – and that which they actually are – actual social identity (Ritzer and Stepnisky 149). Goffman who subscribes to the symbolic interactions school of thought believes that an individual become human through social interactions. This means that the absence of social interactions, one can be said to be a lesser being in the social sense. Goffman argues that stigma is one among the many negative factors that hinder social growth because the victims of the phenomenon cannot sufficiently interact with others.
In defining the term Stigma, Goffman uses two concepts – the virtual social identity and the actual social identity. In order to comprehend Goffman’s definition of stigma, therefore, it is critical to break down his ideas of the two concepts. From what he describes, virtual identity is the desired social status of individual. Taking the example of a paraplegic, the virtual identity is that he is a normal individual capable of everything that the normal people do. He idealizes himself as a normal person and attempts to put off the idea that he lacks a limb. On the other hand, the actual identity of a paraplegic is the real state – the factual state that he lacks a limb. The gap between these two realities can make a person live in denial, feel like he is a lesser being, and the combination of such feelings constitutes the social concept of stigma. Arboleda-Flórez and Sartorius explain that such feelings may make one develop an inferiority complex (78).
In his definitions, Goffman explains that stigma can be broken down into two categories, namely: discredited stigma and discreditable stigma. According to Goffman, discredited stigma is the type of stigma associated with a condition that is evident or rather obvious to everyone interacting with the individual (Ritzer and Stepnisky 149). This is especially so, where the condition is grotesque and conspicuous. For instance, where a person has no nose or one eye, everyone interacting with such a person will perceive the fact that the individual lacks that essential organ. The second category of stigma is the discreditable stigma, which is a type of stigma associated with conditions that are not easily perceivable (Arboleda-Flórez and Sartorius 112). This is the most common type of stigma as it affects almost every human being at one point or another, in their social timeline. The most potent illustration is the example of a Christian living in a largely pagan community. While such a person may pass as a pagan, people may find it hard to know that he is stigmatized.
Goffman’s primary idea about stigma revolves around the way the victims of stigma under the two categories handle the situation. According to Goffman, the victims in the two categories have different dramaturgical problems. The dramaturgical issues that the victims of discredited stigma face revolve around managing the tension that the people around them see their condition as a factor that makes them lesser beings (Ritzer and Stepnisky 149). For instance, a person that does not have a nose may be disturbed by such questions as: what do people think about me? Do I look ugly with my nose missing? And so on. on the contrary, the victims of discreditable stigma are faced with the dramaturgical challenge of managing the information in such a way that the people that do not know for sure that the person suffers the condition do not get to know. This occurs when a person, who, for instance, told a lie in the past, is trying hard to cover everything that may cause his audience to establish the truth. This also applies to such stigma as the one caused by HIV and AIDS, where a person strives to hide their health status.
Another primary idea that Goffman holds about stigma is the fact that human beings use their fellow human beings as a mirror by which to judge themselves. Goffman, who died at the peak of his popularity, believed that when an impaired or somewhat disadvantaged individual interacts with the normal people, he tends to use the normal people as the metric by which to gauge him. Through the infamous 9/11 attack, Goffman illustrates the tendency of people being stigmatized even when nothing substantial differentiates them from the supposed normal people (151). The example applied by Goffman is the stigma that Muslims went through after the terrorist group attacked the world trade center. Simply because the terrorists were Muslims, all believers of the Islamic faith were viewed in negative light, with movies and TV series portraying all villains as being of Islamic affiliations.
Works Cited
Arboleda-Flórez, J, and N Sartorius. Understanding the Stigma of Mental Illness: Theory and Interventions. Chichester, England: John Wiley & Sons, 2008. Print
Ritzer, George and Jeffrey Stepnisky. Contemporary Sociological Theory and Its Classical Roots (Fourth edition). New York: McGraw-Hill Education, 2013. Print
