Homeless Kid Stigma

The article “Fitting in and Fighting back: Homeless Kids’ Stigma management strategies,” discusses strategies adopted by homeless children to manage the stigmatization of their spoiled identities. The research was conducted in an organization situated in San Francisco named “A Home Away From Homelessness.” Erving Goffman defines stigma as negative labels used by the society to devalue members of a certain social group. Homelessness belongs to the second category of stigma; blemishes of individual character. In this category, a person is stigmatized due to perceived or alleged character flaws. Homeless kids are stigmatized because of the situation they were born into. As they try to fit into the normative ways of the society these kids either

The first one is the forging of relationships with either peers or volunteers. In doing so, the kids try to creative a positive and more worthy image of themselves by associating with others in similar predicaments. The second strategy is called passing. In this form of stigma management, the homeless kids try to act in ways that make them appear non-homeless. They do this by taking help of clothing, mannerism and appropriate language, using code words in public etc. The last strategy of inclusion is called covering, in which homeless kids try to minimize the extent to which their homelessness is prominent to the members of the normative society. In my opinion, forging relationships and covering both coincide with Goffman’s second form of stigma management, since the kids are either trying to distance themselves from their stigma or correct their spoiled identity by acting like non-homeless kids. However, the strategy of passing aligns with the first form of stigma management in which the homeless kids try to hide their homeless situation from strangers or people who are unaware pf their homelessness. The two strategies of exclusion listed by the authors are verbal denigration and physical posturing. The kids engage in verbal denigration by criticizing other socially stigmatized groups such as homosexuals and homeless street people as a means of protecting

Temple Grandin was diagnosed of Autism very early in life and faced stigmatization due to her developmental disorder which is characterized by the inability to form relationships, repetitive speech and behavior and other social interaction issues. Autism, or any kind of mental/developmental disorder fall under the second category of stigma as outlined by Goffman. Children with Autism are stigmatized mainly due to their extremely disruptive social behavior which involves screaming, harming themselves, avoiding eye contact etc. The movie shows how Temple Grandin has difficulties communicating and socializing, and when she needs comfort she gets hugged by her own invention: The squeeze machine. With the help and support of her mother, therapists and her teachers, Temple Grandin managed her stigma by embracing it. The movie shows how despite all the challenges thrown at her due to the pre-conceived norms and limitations surrounding Autistic children at that time, she emerges as a brilliant innovator. She excels throughout High school and college and even earns a doctorate degree. She not only embraces her stigma, but clearly shows how Autism has been a