The social construction of stigma: Utilizing discursive psychology for advancing the conceptualization of stigma in mental health.

Abstract

In this article, we offer discursive psychology as a qualitative approach for the examination of stigma in mental health. Discursive psychology aims to closely examine conversational and textual data, most often everyday talk and institutional interactional data. This approach, heavily informed by conversation analysis and the early writings of sociologists such as Goffman and Garfinkel, offers new and innovative ways to examine the construct of stigma, which we illustrate. We suggest in this article that discursive psychology has not yet been fully leveraged for analyzing "stigma in practice" and therefore we provide guidance for scholars who wish to do so.

Self-Disclosure and Non-Communication: Stigma Management in Third-Sector Transitional Employment

“…SM2 then elaborates on her reference to prejudiced employers with a short narrative of a potential employers' visit to one Clubhouse. In the narrative, the prejudiced employers assumed that people who are recovering from a mental illness merely nap and engage in handicrafts, but a visit to a Clubhouse made them realize that rehabilitees perform roles such as running a cafeteria and office tasks (lines [19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28].…”

“…Discursive social psychology has been a somewhat underused approach in stigma management studies [23]. Nevertheless, the approach provides a robust way to study stigma management 'in practice' [23].…”

“…Discursive social psychology has been a somewhat underused approach in stigma management studies [23]. Nevertheless, the approach provides a robust way to study stigma management 'in practice' [23]. From the perspective of discursive social psychology, rehabilitees and mental health service workers are active discourse users, who situationally construct, negotiate and resist both stigmatized identities [23] and the functional ways through which to manage these identities.…”

Women who remain in relationships with registered sexual offenders: Analysis of forum discussion

“…Recently there have been attempts to explore stigma more as a social practice, often with the effect of distinguishing ingroups and outgroups in a community context (Stutterheim & Ratcliffe, 2021). Taking a social constructionist perspective, Lester and O'Reilly (2021) examine stigma as specifically a discursive practice, constructed through language. This way, stigma can be regarded as something which is performed, ‘occasioned and contingent on what interlocutors make relevant in social interaction’ (Lester & O'Reilly, 2021, p. 55).…”

“…Taking a social constructionist perspective, Lester and O'Reilly (2021) examine stigma as specifically a discursive practice, constructed through language. This way, stigma can be regarded as something which is performed, ‘occasioned and contingent on what interlocutors make relevant in social interaction’ (Lester & O'Reilly, 2021, p. 55).…”