Challenges and opportunities in examining and addressing intersectional stigma and health

By J. Turan, MELISSA A. Elafros, C. Logie, Swagata Banik, B. Turan, Kaylee B. Crockett, Bernice A. Pescosolido, S. Murray. BMC Medicine, 2019

635 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Background‘Intersectional stigma’ is a concept that has emerged to characterize the convergence of multiple stigmatized identities within a person or group, and to address their joint effects on health and wellbeing. While enquiry into the intersections of race, class, and gender serves as the historical and theoretical basis for intersectional stigma, there is little consensus on how best to characterize and analyze intersectional stigma, or on how to design interventions to address this complex phenomenon. The purpose of this paper is to highlight existing intersectional stigma literature, identify gaps in our methods for studying and addressing intersectional stigma, provide examples illustrating promising analytical approaches, and elucidate priorities for future health research.DiscussionEvidence from the existing scientific literature, as well as the examples presented here, suggest that people in diverse settings experience intersecting forms of stigma that influence their mental and physical health and corresponding health behaviors. As different stigmas are often correlated and interrelated, the health impact of intersectional stigma is complex, generating a broad range of vulnerabilities and risks. Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches are required to reduce the significant knowledge gaps that remain in our understanding of intersectional stigma, shared identity, and their effects on health.ConclusionsStigmatized identities, while often analyzed in isolation, do not exist in a vacuum. Intersecting forms of stigma are a common reality, yet they remain poorly understood. The development of instruments and methods to better characterize the mechanisms and effects of intersectional stigma in relation to various health conditions around the globe is vital. Only then will healthcare providers, public health officials, and advocates be able to design health interventions that capitalize on the positive aspects of shared identity, while reducing the burden of stigma.

Subfields: Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health, Sociology and Political Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/b81b77e239ffe3da9a711c6a7731fdab18b42782

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In Sociology and Political Science

1. Anne C. Krendl
2. Bernice A. Pescosolido

Citations in the corpus

• Countries and Cultural Differences in the Stigma of Mental Illness: The East–West Divide (2020, background): “Prior work on the “double jeopardy” hypothesis (Berdahl & Moore, 2006; Turan et al., 2019)—which reported higher prejudice and discrimination toward individuals with multiple (vs. single) stigmatized identities—in Western countries found that individuals with mental illness are more stigmatized…”