Module: Sociology and Everyday Life
Week 10 – Goffman, Stigma & Moral Career/Stigma – Ego Identity
Recap
Goffman addresses 3 types of identities we have:
Social identity is what creates the stigma. It’s about how people judge us as a
person.
Personal identity – how people manage their stigma. How people identify
themselves as particular types of people.
Ego identity – e.g. people going into activism to change the perception that
normals have of them.
Three types of stigma:
Bodily
Character
Tribal, group identity e.g. religion, ethnicity
How do people cope with a stigma?
They might relearn various skills or take up new skills to compensate for the
stigma they possess
May use their stigma for ‘secondary gains’ make excuses for themselves or
gain sympathy.
The Own & the Wise
The own – those who share the same stigma
The wise – the sympathetic others, people who don’t have the stigma but
represent them in some way.
Moral Career
People who become stigmatised go through a similar set of learning experiences.
They have to go through a process which involves coming to terms with their new
identity and new reality.
The moral career depends on two interweaving identities:
A person’s felt identity – their self of sense
A personal’s external, objective social position (e.g. social class, status).
, There are particular events that we will remember as being significant to our moral
career. Example: the guy involved in the car crash was given a mirror and saw in the
reflection the extent of his injuries.
Seeking help is an important moral juncture.
Example: taking anti-depressants for depression – this can either create a double
stigma or it can make the person feel good because it makes them feel that it’s a
medical condition that can be dealt with.
Moral Career - Outcomes
1. Those born with a stigma might know they are different from normals.
Example: an orphan who doesn’t want to have parents end up becoming a
parent and comes to understand the role.
2. Another outcome is that the stigmatised may stay in a protective capsule. This
can be shocking for them later on e.g. a child with overprotective parents.
3. When a stigma is late in developing, the newly stigmatised may have to
readjust dramatically to their new selves.
4. When a person has been initially socialised in an alien (outside) community
and then has to learn a second way of being that is acceptable to those
around them. They have to abandon who they thought they were.
The stigmatised often feel ambivalent about their situation.
They will go through cycles of accepting their status or rejecting it. Example: they
want to campaign on behalf of stigmatised groups and get angry about it.
There may be a turning point at some stage where they realise that they are pretty
much like anybody else.
Ego Identity
It’s about how we feel about ourselves
How we think about ourselves is determined by our moral career.
It’s about how we manage the stigma and how we make sense of it.
There may be ambivalence – we might have contradictory ideas about
ourselves. Sometimes we feel we don’t fit in, and sometimes we define
ourselves as normal.
They are subject to a code of conduct:
- Warned against minstrelization
- Warned against deminstrelization – that they shouldn’t pretend to be
normal
Groups also influence stigmatised self-perception.
Week 10 – Goffman, Stigma & Moral Career/Stigma – Ego Identity
Recap
Goffman addresses 3 types of identities we have:
Social identity is what creates the stigma. It’s about how people judge us as a
person.
Personal identity – how people manage their stigma. How people identify
themselves as particular types of people.
Ego identity – e.g. people going into activism to change the perception that
normals have of them.
Three types of stigma:
Bodily
Character
Tribal, group identity e.g. religion, ethnicity
How do people cope with a stigma?
They might relearn various skills or take up new skills to compensate for the
stigma they possess
May use their stigma for ‘secondary gains’ make excuses for themselves or
gain sympathy.
The Own & the Wise
The own – those who share the same stigma
The wise – the sympathetic others, people who don’t have the stigma but
represent them in some way.
Moral Career
People who become stigmatised go through a similar set of learning experiences.
They have to go through a process which involves coming to terms with their new
identity and new reality.
The moral career depends on two interweaving identities:
A person’s felt identity – their self of sense
A personal’s external, objective social position (e.g. social class, status).
, There are particular events that we will remember as being significant to our moral
career. Example: the guy involved in the car crash was given a mirror and saw in the
reflection the extent of his injuries.
Seeking help is an important moral juncture.
Example: taking anti-depressants for depression – this can either create a double
stigma or it can make the person feel good because it makes them feel that it’s a
medical condition that can be dealt with.
Moral Career - Outcomes
1. Those born with a stigma might know they are different from normals.
Example: an orphan who doesn’t want to have parents end up becoming a
parent and comes to understand the role.
2. Another outcome is that the stigmatised may stay in a protective capsule. This
can be shocking for them later on e.g. a child with overprotective parents.
3. When a stigma is late in developing, the newly stigmatised may have to
readjust dramatically to their new selves.
4. When a person has been initially socialised in an alien (outside) community
and then has to learn a second way of being that is acceptable to those
around them. They have to abandon who they thought they were.
The stigmatised often feel ambivalent about their situation.
They will go through cycles of accepting their status or rejecting it. Example: they
want to campaign on behalf of stigmatised groups and get angry about it.
There may be a turning point at some stage where they realise that they are pretty
much like anybody else.
Ego Identity
It’s about how we feel about ourselves
How we think about ourselves is determined by our moral career.
It’s about how we manage the stigma and how we make sense of it.
There may be ambivalence – we might have contradictory ideas about
ourselves. Sometimes we feel we don’t fit in, and sometimes we define
ourselves as normal.
They are subject to a code of conduct:
- Warned against minstrelization
- Warned against deminstrelization – that they shouldn’t pretend to be
normal
Groups also influence stigmatised self-perception.
