Phelan Stigmatization Model

Phelan Stigmatization Model

Bruce and Jo Phelan propose that stigma exists when four specific components converge.

(1) Individuals differentiate and label human variations.
(2) Prevailing cultural beliefs tie those labeled to adverse attributes.
(3) Labeled individuals are placed in distinguished groups that serve to establish a sense of disconnection between “us” and “them.”
(4) Labeled individuals experience “status loss and discrimination” that leads to unequal circumstances.

In this model stigmatization is also contingent on “access to social, economic, and political power that allows the identification of differences, construction of stereotypes, the separation of labeled persons into distinct groups, and the full execution of disapproval, rejection, exclusion, and discrimination.” Subsequently, in this model the term stigma is applied when labeling, stereotyping, disconnection, status loss, and discrimination all exist within a power situation that facilitates stigma to occur.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_stigma