Deviant Behavior 2

Virtual vs. Actual Social Identity

VIRTUAL SOCIAL IDENTITY

The character we impute to someone

— the assumptions and demands we

make about who they should be, often

before we consciously realize we're

making them.

ACTUAL SOCIAL IDENTITY

The category and attributes a person

can actually be shown to possess —

which may or may not match the

virtual identity projected onto them.

what is stigma

Stigma is an attribute that is deeply discrediting and serves as a gap between someone’s virtual identity and actual identity.

3 types of stigma

1.Abominations of the Body-

Physical characteristics that

set someone apart from

bodily norms in a way that

receives a negative response.

2.blemishes of character-

Inferred from a known record:

mental disorder, addiction,

imprisonment,

unemployment, radical

politics — read as signs of

weak will.

3.tribal stigma-Tied to race, nation, religion,

or other group one is part of

— transmitted through

lineage, contaminating all

members of a group equally.

Two ways to manage a stigma?

PASSING
Concealing the stigmatizing
attribute entirely, so that one is
treated as an ordinary member of
the setting rather than being seen
as “deviant.”

COVERING

Minimizing the visibility or

disruptive impact of a known

difference that can't be fully hidden

— keeping it from becoming the

focus of an interaction

The Discredited vs. The Discreditable

THE DISCREDITED

Their stigmatizing difference is

already known or immediately

visible to others.

Central challenge: managing tension —

how to carry a known difference

through everyday encounters without it

dominating every interaction. Do you try

to “cover” in Goffman’s terminology?

THE DISCREDITABLE

Their difference is not yet known or

perceivable by those present.

Central challenge: managing

information — deciding when, how, and

to whom to disclose, and living with the

risk of discovery. Do you try to “pass,” in

Goffman’s terminology?

“Mixed Contacts”: Where Stigma Gets Negotiated

Goffman's central concern isn't the trait itself, but what happens when a stigmatized

person and a “normal” occupy the same social situation.

FELT SHAME

Stigmatized individuals often absorb the same standards as everyone else —

shame can surface even alone, facing a mirror, with no observer present.

ANTICIPATED INTERACTION

Both sides tend to feel unsteady: the stigmatized person fears being misread

or patronized; the “normal” fears seeming too solicitous or too dismissive.

THE SPIRAL OF AWARENESS

Discomfort becomes something each side senses the other is aware of —

aware of being aware — a regress Goffman says has no natural stopping point.

Goffman refers to non-deviant people as:

normals

CORE ARGUMENT

Thamm et al. (2024)

Thamm and colleagues argue that head & neck cancer (HNC) is not just treated as a

disease — it’s talked about as a form of deviance, shaping how patients are treated.

WHY SUSCEPTIBLE TO STIGMA?

It is visible — disfigurement and lost function can't be hidden behind

clothing, unlike many other surgeries.

It is linked to modifiable “risk” behaviors — smoking, drinking, and sexual

activity — that carry their own moral weight.

Health itself is treated as the social norm, so any disease reads as a

deviation from it — and HNC's visibility makes that deviation especially

hard to manage.

BOTTOM LINE

Theirs is a social-constructionist

reading of stigma: Deviance and

stigma aren't properties of a person,

but social beliefs, norms, and values

shape how a condition gets talked

about (and felt socially).

What concepts did we learn from Goffman?

A vocabulary: virtual vs. actual identity,

discredited vs. discreditable, passing,

covering, mixed contacts.

Labels and Categories: “Old School” vs. HPV-Positive

Clinicians in the study sorted patients into informal categories — sociodemographic

shorthand that carried moral assumptions along with it.

THE “OLD SCHOOL” GROUP

Described by one clinician as older, heavier

drinkers and smokers, often lower income

— a category that bundles disease with

class and lifestyle assumptions in a single

collective noun.

Even patients used this category to distance

themselves from other patients in the

waiting room.

THE “HPV-POSITIVE” GROUP

Described as younger, professional, and

working — a category with its own burden,

since these patients are often still primary

earners sidelined for months of treatment.

Categorization is meant to describe — but it

removes the person from the picture, and

the label starts to do the stigmatizing.

According to Goffman, stigma is defined as

spoiled identity

a social phenomenon where an individual is disqualified from full social acceptance due to a perceived flaw, creating a “spoiled identity.”

“Mental Illness”

• Defining “mental illness” is not so

easy.

• Involves some sort of norm

violation and potential for stigma.

ILLNESS AND POLITICAL SOCIAL CONTROL:

A FEW EXAMPLES RELATED TO MENTAL ILLNESS

• 1960s-1986: The Soviet Union labeled dissidents as “mentally ill” and put

them in psychiatric facilities with diagnoses like “sluggish schizophrenia.”

• 1980s China: Roughly 15% of psychiatric cases had political origins. Those

who wrote or made speeches that were anti-government were potentially

subject to labeling and institutionalization.

• Under slavery: Enslaved people who tried to flee captivity were labeled with

“Drapetomania” (”sulky and dissatisfied without cause”). Treatment included

removing both big toes.

• In 1958, Black history professor and activist Clennon W. King Jr was

institutionalized in a mental hospital for 12 days after he tried to enroll in

summer graduate classes at Ole Miss (“must be crazy”).

The label of “crazy” or “sick” has been politically used to control people who

violate social norms or seek social change.

People do experience real mental health crises and chronic

psychological issues that make life challenging.

• Social, economic, and cultural forces shape the likelihood of

mental illness occurring and its severity.

• Addressing mental health is important for individuals’ well-being

as well as social stability.

• Mental illness can still be stigmatizing.

3 parts of mental health

biological

social

psychological

They’re all affecting each other and play a role in mental health

and social interaction, labeling, and power

how can we see mental health as a form of medicalized deviance?:

THE FRAMEWORK (Johnson 2025)

Sociologically, a society carves out some experiences,

perceptions, and beliefs as “mental illness” as distinct

from “normal” mental health — it isn’t an illness in

nature but in social labeling and interpretation.

What is the “DSM”?

“Diagnostic & Statistical Manual of mental disorders”

Define what is officially a

“mental illness.”

• Standardize criteria for diagnosing people using shared

language.

• Provide treatment guidance.

• Supplies diagnostic codes required for insurance and legal documentation.