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In Stigma Goffman examines the social interatcions between “stigmatized” and “normal” persons in society. His analysis begins by defining the term “stigma” as a physical, characterological, or social attribute that is deeply discrediting. He maintains, however, that no attributes are discrediting in themselves: they require recognition on the part of others and the self that the attribute in question is to be negatively evaluated. Defining “stigma” in this sociological sense, Goffman addresses three basic questions: First, how does an individual come to be labeled as stigmatized? Second, how does the stigmatized individual manage this role in face-to-face interactions? Finally, how does this individual feel about this stigma and its management?
In order to answer these questions, Goffman employs the concept of identity in a variety of psychological and sociological senses. First, he says that an individual is thought to possess a stigma when there is a discrepancy between his virtual and actual social identity. Specifically, when the social categories and characteristics one typically assigns to an individual are contradicted by attributes which make him “different from others in the category of persons available for him to be,” and when these attributes are of a “less desirable kind,” then the individual is reclassified from one socially accepted, anticipated category to a less accepted, unanticipated category. Goffman devotes considerable attention to the nuances in such reclassifications, especially as they occur in situations of “mixed social contacts.”
In describing the personal adjustments an individual must make to stigmatization, Goffman cites two general responses and corresponding sets of issues. First, he say that when “normals” perceive a discrepancy between an individual's virtual and actual social identity, this individual will be discredited and his major concern will be to manage the tensions that arise in contacts with others. However, Goffman also no