Deviance, Difference and Stigma in Health

Question 1

What did the theorist Emile Durkheim propose?

Answer 1

“Cultural norms, common institutions and shared experiences are the glue that hold societies together”

Question 2

What did theorist Michel Foucault propose?

Answer 2

• “Medical Gaze”
• Doctors “select” what is relevant from the patient’s story that “fit” with medical understandings
• Control patients through power imbalance, power of diagnosis
• Doctors have power to decide who is healthy

Question 3

What are social norms?

Answer 3

Expectations around how people behave in certain situations

Question 4

What is deviance?

Answer 4

• Behaviour that violates social norms
• Durkheim proposed that “deviance is a universal feature of all societies because is expresses the values and norms of culture”

Question 5

How does stigma related to deviance?

Answer 5

• Deviance can lead to stigma
• Stigma is frequently associated with feelings of shame
• Person who is stigmatised may have internalised norms labelling themselves as “deviant”

Question 6

What is stigma?

Answer 6

Set of negative beliefs about someone based on characteristics that separate the person from others

Question 7

How is stigma related to fear?

Answer 7

• Fear of the unknown/difference
• Fear of contagion
• Fear of association and becoming one of stigmatised/losing “good reputation”
• Fear of lacking resources

Question 8

What is the impact of deviance and stigma on health?

Answer 8

• Stigma enables discrimination

- Prevent someone from seeking healthcare due to shame/exclusion and adherence to health

Question 9

What are Goffman’s two responses to stigma?

Answer 9

1) Passing

2) Covering

Question 10

What is passing in regards to stigma?

Answer 10

Individual tries to “pass” as normal, tries to fit in, denies difference

Question 11

What is covering in regards to stigma

Answer 11

Individual tries to downplay the extent of the difference

Question 12

What is a framework that supports the fact that stigma is truly a social determinant of health?

Answer 12

Health Stigma and Discrimination Framework

-Provide example with: mental health conditions, cancer, HIV, epilepsy, obesity

Question 13

How does the response to stigma relate to disability studies?

Answer 13

• Stress importance of language and ownership of terms
• Disability does not need to be “cured”
• Disability is simply a variation
• Disabled people need doctors to provide diagnoses, keeps healthcare workers in jobs