Destigmatization and health: Cultural constructions and the long-term reduction of stigma

Abstract

Research on the societal-level causes and consequences of stigma has rarely considered the social conditions that account for destigmatization, the process by which a group’s worth and status improve. Destigmatization has important implications for the health of stigmatized groups. Building on a robust line of stigma reduction literature in psychology, we develop a sociological framework for understanding how new cultural constructions that draw equivalences and remove blame shape public and structural stigma over time. We examine historical transformations of cultural constructions surrounding three stigmatized groups in the United States: people living with HIV/AIDS, African Americans, and people labeled as obese. By tracing this process across cases, we find that the conditions that account for destigmatization include the credibility of new constructions, the status and visibility of actors carrying these constructions, the conclusiveness of expert knowledge about stigmatized groups, the interaction between new constructions and existing cultural ideologies, and the perceived linked fate of the stigmatized and dominant groups. We also find that the reduction of structural and public forms of stigma often depend on distinct processes and constructions. To conclude, we propose a framework for the comparative study of destigmatization as an essential component of promoting a culture of health.

Contextualizing public stigma: Endorsed mental health treatment stigma on college and university campuses

“…This heightened attention is, in part, due to the important associations between stigma and the severity of mental illness symptoms (Andrade et al 2014;Brown 2017;Drapalski et al 2013), disclosure of conditions to friends, family, and healthcare professionals (Dew et al 2007;Donnelly 2017;Prior et al 2003), self-esteem (Corrigan 2004;Corrigan and Watson 2002;Corrigan, Watson, and Barr 2006), and treatment-seeking behavior (Clement et al 2015;Tsang, Fung, and Chung 2010;Vogel, Wade, and Haake 2006). While population estimates suggest that many individuals with symptoms of mental illness do not receive treatment or are undertreated Wang et al 2005Wang et al , 2007, scholars, healthcare providers, and other stakeholders hope that stigma reduction efforts will increase treatment-seeking behavior (Clair, Daniel, and Lamont 2016;Hatzenbuehler, Phelan, and Link 2013;Hunter et al 2017;Pilgrim and Rogers 2005).…”

From ‘having’ to ‘being’: self‐worth and the current crisis of American society

“…These trends contrast with warmth toward LGBTQ that show uninterrupted improvement over the period under consideration (Figure ) – although support is more solid from some segments of the population than from others . This is not surprising given that the LGBTQ community is not clearly associated with the poor (Clair, Daniel and Lamont ).…”

Territorial Stigmatization and Territorial Destigmatization: A Cultural Sociology of Symbolic Strategy in the Gentrification of Parkdale (Toronto)

“…For example, recent work advances analytic means for evaluating stigma’s causal power (Hatzenbeuhler, ; Link and Phelan, ), gauging stigma’s structural embeddedness (Hansen et al ., ; Hatzenbeuhler and Link, ), and demonstrating the negative impacts of place‐based stigma on mental health (Kelaher et al ., ). Researchers have also assessed processes of destigmatization (Corrigan et al ., ; Corrigan al ., ; Clair et al ., ). We will return to this literature in the final section.…”

“…Recent research on stigma has demonstrated that advocacy and education alone do not destigmatize, with mounting evidence that interaction and discursive reframing are central to destigmatization. The ‘status and visibility’ of stigmatized actors bearing new ‘destigmatizing cultural constructions’ is now recognized as crucial (Clair et al ., : 223). The cross‐cultural international comparative study of stigma suggests that the social and symbolic work of destigmatization in general bears major relevance for territorial destigmatization.…”