title: Destigmatization and health: Cultural constructions and the long-term reduction of stigma.
abstract: Research on the societal-level causes and consequences of stigma has rarely considered the social conditions that account for destigmatization, the process by which a group's worth and status improve. Destigmatization has important implications for the health of stigmatized groups. Building on a robust line of stigma reduction literature in psychology, we develop a sociological framework for understanding how new cultural constructions that draw equivalences and remove blame shape public and structural stigma over time. We examine historical transformations of cultural constructions surrounding three stigmatized groups in the United States: people living with HIV/AIDS, African Americans, and people labeled as obese. By tracing this process across cases, we find that the conditions that account for destigmatization include the credibility of new constructions, the status and visibility of actors carrying these constructions, the conclusiveness of expert knowledge about stigmatized groups, the interaction between new constructions and existing cultural ideologies, and the perceived linked fate of the stigmatized and dominant groups. We also find that the reduction of structural and public forms of stigma often depend on distinct processes and constructions. To conclude, we propose a framework for the comparative study of destigmatization as an essential component of promoting a culture of health.
authors.affiliation: Harvard University, Department of Sociology, 641 William James Hall, 33 Kirkland Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. Electronic address: clair@fas.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Clair
authors.affiliation: Harvard University, Department of Sociology, 543 William James Hall, 33 Kirkland Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. Electronic address: cdaniel@fas.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: Caitlin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Daniel
authors.affiliation: Harvard University, Department of Sociology, 510 William James Hall, 33 Kirkland Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. Electronic address: mlamont@wjh.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: Michèle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lamont
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D009765:Obesity / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D063505:Racism / Q000523:psychology; D057545:Social Stigma; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000209:etiology; D014481:United States / Q000208:ethnology
keywords: Culture; Destigmatization; Discrimination; HIV/AIDS; Obesity; Racism; Stigma; Stigma reduction