Stigm Notes On The Management Of Spoiled Identity

In the book, Stigma: Notes on the management of Spoiled Identity, Erving Goffman defined stigma as an â€Å"attribute that is deeply discrediting† and that reduces the bearer â€Å"from normal being to a person that is tainted† (Goffman 1963, p. 3). It is considered a form of stereotype or labeling of a person or group based on their illness and handicap. The topic that I will be discussing in this paper is Alcoholism, how people who are alcohol dependence are stigmatized and ways to help reduce the stigma and discrimination associated with it. Stigma is a negative attribute imposed by society on people that can cause discrimination. Stigmatized people lacks social acceptance because they possess traits that damage their identity and prevent them from being part of society. According to Goffman, they are three types of stigma: 1) defects of the body, such as physical abnormalities, 2) defects of character, such as mental illness, 3) tribal stigma of race, nation and religion that can be transmitted through lineage. All these are undesirable differences that set stigmatized people apart from what society considered normal. For instance Alcohol dependence is a form of addiction and a disease like any substance drug addiction. What is addiction you may ask? Well the national institute on drug Abuse defines addiction as a â€Å"chronic, relapsing brain disease† that changes the structure and functionality of the brain (The Fix, p. 1). There are two type of alcoholism: alcohol abuseShow MoreRelatedStigm Notes On The Management Of Spoiled Identity1656 Words   |  7 PagesStigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity In 1963, Sociologist Erving Goffman wrote â€Å"Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity†, which goes over the conditions of those with stigma and how society saw them as different and viewed them social outcasts. Goffman goes over and explains the different issue of stigma. Goffman begins to go over the conception of stigmatization and explains the ideas of virtual and actual identity. Then there’s the stigmatized, which are known to goes