Social Policy theories and concepts
Explain what we mean by the concept of Stigma and critically discuss in relation to strategies of redistribution.
Alex Sherlock / 18309901
This essay examines the idea surrounding stigma, that it is something that takes away from one’s personality or reputation causing them to stand out from others (Yourdictionary.com, 2018). Stigma is what causes people to treat other people differently just because they are ‘different’ in comparison to what is considered ‘normal’ in society. Stigma possesses the ability to kill people’s self-confidence and happiness as it often causes a person to feel a sense of embarrassment and disappointment, leaving them feeling like a failure. Today, stigma plays a huge role in issues regarding mental health, social welfare and various other services as people strongly believe that it matters.
Stigma is clear to see when it comes to debates over universal and selective approaches to welfare. The stigma circling those less fortunate than others is what favours selective approaches to welfare as these people are believed to need resources such as housing and money more than others. People favouring universal approaches believe in the stigma that the poor are richer than the rich themselves, as they make a living off social welfare and its various benefits. These people believe that these social benefits should be offered to everyone making them universal (University Blog, 2018)
An example showing how stigma changes people’s behaviour is seen through the stigma surrounding mental illness which is increasing day by day causing people to become prejudice as they ‘judge’ these individuals who are suffering and discriminate against them. In 1999 the U.S. Surgeon General labeled stigma as what maybe the biggest barrier to the care provided for mental health as people’s behaviour around them changes causing them to have negative attitudes towards those suffering, usually, labelling them as ‘weird’ or ‘attention-seeking’ (Psychology Today, 2018).
There is plenty of stigma in connection to social policies. Examples of social policies include social care, housing, welfare; Holman argues, that once someone is defined as 'undeserving' or 'unworthy' they are awarded services inferior to others. (1973, 414). People who receive these are classified as inferior to others but some people see the majority of these people as the ‘non- deserving poor’ who take advantage of the system. The difference between the ‘deserving’ and the ‘undeserving’ poor are that the ‘deserving’ poor are those who are in need as they are unable to work due to reasons such as they are too old, disabled, or too sick. The ‘undeserving’ poor are the group of people who are too lazy to work or are not bothered to look for work. This group usually includes people who are unemployed yet possess the ability to work (Herinst.org, 2018). In this country, many people believe that you’re better off not working at all as those who work are sometimes known as the ‘working poor’, as they find it unfair that people on welfare are able to enjoy similar living standards to theirs without having to work (BBC News, 2018).
An example of a stigmatizing social policy is housing. It’s one of the most stigmatized social policies as people’s reputation is usually associated to the place in which they live. According to Griffiths "All council estates carry a social stigma"(Griffiths, 1975). The people who receive houses in social estates are classified as inferior in society, they are described as people who are poor and are unable to afford a house themselves. Unfortunately, it’s not only the ‘deserving’ poor who receive these houses but also the ‘undeserving’ poor which as an outcome increases waiting lists and therefore increases homelessness which has led to Irelands massive housing crisis. An example of this is the statistic released by Focus Ireland stating that 113 families became newly homeless in august 2018 (Focus Ireland, 2018)
When a person is institutionalized it means that they have been locked up for such a long time that they begin to get used to this new way of living (Martin, 2018). The word stigma came from Ancient Greece where it was a brand that could be found engraved onto either a criminal or a slaves skin as it stood for ‘disgrace’. The word stigmatize stood for “to brand or tattoo” in the 1500s which brings about why when people stigmatize others, they are literally branding them, labelling them as something shameful to society (Vocabulary.com, 2018). “Institutional stigma refers to an organization's policies or culture of negative attitudes and beliefs that affect the way mental health is approached in the workplace, educational establishment or other institution” (Minto et al., 2017).
One example of institutional stigmatization is within a prison. People are put there as a form of punishment for committing a crime. Although the idea of prison is for these people to get locked away and become better people, they are stigmatized against as they are put in complete isolation from the world around them. Prison security also have a negative attitude towards prisoners due to stigma even if the crime they have committed was small, they are still shamed upon. The stigma surrounding these people will never end, even after their time is up and they are released, they will never really be free. These people receive a criminal record, making it hard for them to get a job and start a new life due to stigma. This can affect their mental health as they are made feel ashamed and embarrassed, like they’re not good enough which can often lead to depression. The way these people are treated by the prison security during their time and their community when they are released usually has a huge impact on their mental health as even though they may have changed, society will always label them as ‘dangerous’ thanks to stigma.
Mental illness is another example of institutional stigmatization when people are put inside institutions like asylums. The stigma surrounding mental health often leads to people feeling ashamed and causes them to become too embarrassed to ask for help. These individuals are often treated different in society, as if they are inferior due to stigma. When they enter these places the stigma around the issue is so strong that people ‘helping’ them can’t help but have negative attitudes towards them without even realizing. Goffman believes that in Asylums, “much of the behaviour shown by people in these mental institutions can be a reaction to the situation they are put in where sanity seems to have been abandoned, instead of actual pathological madness and the stigma around it which labels these people as ‘crazy’” (Goffman, 1961).
Stigma is connected to the strategies of redistribution. Redistribution is the passing of resources to one person or a group from another that can bring about a great amount of stigma (Kennedy, 2013). There are two types of redistribution, both vertical and horizontal. Vertical redistribution is usually the wealthy giving to the poor for example St. Vincent De Paul. Although they are addressing poverty, years ago, they used to hand out brown trousers to those less fortunate. This brought about a fair amount of stigma as anyone seen in brown trousers at this time was labelled as ‘poor’. This could make people feel embarrassed to be seen out in these trousers therefore stigma played a huge role in preventing help for those in need. Horizontal redistribution is distribution across groups where needs come before income. An example of this is social welfare such as the ‘dole’ which is money given to people who are unemployed to help address unemployment. Stigma is strongly associated to the dole as people who receive it are seen by society as ‘poor’ and ‘lazy’ as they have no source of income. This stigma can prevent the problem of unemployment from being helped as people feel ashamed and don’t want to queue up for it in worry of what other people may think.
Although stigma plays a disadvantage in relation to strategies of redistribution it also plays an advantage. As these people are so stigmatized by society it is clear they need help for them to feel equal to everybody else. This can sometimes play a positive role as it allows them to carry on with their lives just like any other person or group. ” An institutional social policy decreases inequality by making it possible for the lower socio-economic strata to enjoy roughly the same services as other groups” (Korpi, 1983).
In conclusion, this essay highlighted that stigma has and always will play a problem in society no matter what people do to try and prevent it as this essay described how stigma plays a role in every area of society. In relation to strategies of redistribution, the distribution of welfare will never be seen as ‘fair’ by everyone in society because of the stigma surrounding these individuals or groups who receive it.