The meaning of stigma: identity construction in two old-age institutions

Abstract

People in advanced old age with frailties and those who are resident in old-age institutions manage their identities within the constraints of stigmatised settings. This paper compares the processes of identity construction in an old-age home and in a sheltered housing project for older people in Israel. Applying a symbolic-interactionist perspective that sees old-age institutions as social arenas for the reconstruction of identity, the paper first distinguishes the residents' constructions of stigma and deviance. While the old-age home residents collectively turned their stigma into a source of positive labelling, the sheltered housing residents drew advantages from their previous roles and statuses. Gossip is shown to play a critical role in reproducing stigma, particularly in the old-age home. These findings are used to demonstrate the variability and potential for adaptation among the residents – who are often stereotyped as homogeneous and passive. The paper concludes with a discussion of the literal and metaphorical languages used by older people, and of stigma as a positive instrument that can introduce content into the definition of the self.

Perceptions of old age and aging in the continuing care retirement community

“…Although much has been written about subjective perceptions of old age by both older and younger age groups (Ayalon, 2013a;Kite et al, 2005), only very few studies have addressed this topic in the context of the CCRC (Gamliel and Hazan, 2006;Bodner et al, 2011b;Ayalon and Green, 2012). This is important given the increasing popularity of this LTC setting as well as the image of old age as a time of success and prosperity that the CCRC is trying to promote (Gamliel and Hazan, 2006). Using Nydegger's (1986) conceptualization of various timetables in the perception of age and aging, the present study points to a prominent general view of old age as a sign of decline and decay.…”

A Qualitative Study of Alcohol, Health and Identities among UK Adults in Later Life

“…However, the processes by which identities can be constructed are ‘tremendously powerful’ in governing social interaction ([38], p5), and the concept of identities can also improve understanding of public health issues around older people's alcohol-related behaviour. Although older people construct positive identities for themselves by discounting stigma [65], emphasising propriety to avoid stigma around alcohol could lead them to treat unhealthy behaviour as normal, such as the drinking of eight pints of beer endorsed in Excerpt 6 on the grounds of apparent self-control. Long-term comparative data indicate that consuming alcohol at high risk in later life tends to reinforce some social resources at the expense of others [66]; older men's heavy drinking is positively associated with friends' approval for drinking, but is likely to be reduced over time if they have a partner who drinks less heavily [67].…”

Constructing ageing and age identities: a case study of newspaper discourses

“…Ageing subjectivities associated with ' otherness' are produced in such practices as spatially segregating older people in institutional forms of residential care (Hugman 1999) and stereotyping them as homogeneous and passive (Gamliel and Hazan 2009). The idea that these ' others' should now emerge from their residential care homes and mortgage-free houses to demand state welfare not only gave rise to their identity as improbable radicals, but also constructed a subject position as undeserving ' rich and greyly querulous ' asset grabbers.…”