What does stigmatization mean?
Stigmatization is the process of attaching a negative social label to a person, group, or characteristic and treating those associated with it as disreputable or unacceptable. It can involve stereotypes, shame, exclusion, harassment, or unequal treatment, and may occur through individual attitudes as well as institutional practices. The word is especially common in discussions of mental illness, infectious disease, disability, poverty, addiction, and marginalized identities. Unlike discrimination, which emphasizes unequal treatment, stigmatization focuses more broadly on the social process of creating and reinforcing a harmful label. It can also describe how existing negative stereotypes are maintained or intensified. Because it has a strongly negative connotation, stigmatization is normally used for genuine social harm rather than ordinary criticism or disagreement.
nounThe act or process of treating someone as undesirable, disgraceful, or disreputable, especially by associating them with a perceived flaw or social characteristic. It may be expressed through attitudes, stereotypes, exclusion, or discriminatory treatment.
- The process or act of marking a person or group as disreputable, shameful, or undesirable.
- The strengthening or reproduction of a negative social stereotype associated with a person or group.
"The stigmatization of people with mental illnesses can make them feel ashamed to seek help."
"Public misinformation contributed to the stigmatization of people infected with the disease."
"The charity works to reduce the stigmatization of people experiencing homelessness."
The plural is uncommon in general writing but is used when referring to distinct instances of stigmatizing a person or group.
"The researchers documented several stigmatizations of minority communities in the media."
Stigmatization can begin with a label, but its damage is often carried out through the way people are treated afterward.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does stigmatization come from?
Stigmatization is derived from stigma, which comes from Greek stigma, meaning a mark or tattoo, especially one associated with a person or group. The word entered English in the context of marks on the body and later developed the sense of a social mark indicating disgrace or disapproval. Stigmatize and stigmatization developed from this older noun through the French-influenced ending -ize and the suffix -ation.
Related word forms
How stigmatization is actually used
The word is formal and strongly evaluative. It commonly describes a social process involving attitudes, stereotypes, exclusion, or discrimination, and is frequently used in discussion of health, disability, poverty, religion, sexuality, and other identities or conditions.
Easily confused with stigmatization
Stigma is the social disapproval or negative label attached to a person or group, whereas stigmatization is the process of attaching or reinforcing that label.
Stigmatization concerns the social meaning and negative labeling attached to a characteristic, while discrimination more specifically denotes unequal or disadvantageous treatment based on that characteristic.