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What exactly are the right characteristics, that one must have, in order for society to approve of them? Who is responsible for approving the wanted characteristics for the most part of their lives, when the youth struggle for individuality? Doing this, results in them subconsciously conforming to the social norms, set by pre-existing values and standards of society. Émile Durkheim was the first to explore stigma as a social factor in 1895. He and Ervin Goffman described people, who do not conform to social norms, as deviants (Herman, 1995, para.1). The different types of social stigma deeply affect students in negative ways.
Firstly, social stigma can be described as a deeply ‘discrediting’, disapproving or even discriminating attitude against a person based on perceivable social characteristics, that serve to distinguish them from other members of a society (Frost, 2011, p.3). Social stigma has many faces that cause drastic and unpredictable effects. Suicide is a main effect, as it is seen as a negative ‘solution’. When people are stigmatized, they feel devalued and worthless. Therefore, they lose the will to live and attempt to or commit suicide. When people commit suicide, they are usually blamed for it. Yet, nobody thinks about investigating the layout of the victim’s environment. Less often do people investigate what contributions the family, friends and society have done to cause such a devastating life decision. Carney and Merrell (2001, p.364-382) comment that, “Society commonly uses the person blame approach system whereby an individual is blamed for their own downfall”. Society fails to look at it from the perspective of the victim and what exactly drove them to do it. A superb example are university students. The work load assigned to students crushes them into depression and stress. Bullying adds to the pile of concerns. The victims do not talk about it due to the fear of embarrassment. Bullies would deny the accusations due to fear of expulsion. Many students lose understanding of their courses and seek help from their fellow classmates. Instead of receiving motivating advice from their friends, students are scolded for choosing a course they do not understand. Evidence suggests that, women are three times more likely to attempt suicide and experience stigma than men (Weiten, 2011, p.590). Studies have shown that people who are stigmatized or bullied have higher chances of developing an aggressive behavior.
Secondly, physical deformities, which include extremes of height, weight, albinism and facial disfigurement (Biernat and Dovidio, 2000, p.88-125), are also factors of appearance, that people are judged upon and judge with. At universities, it is common to view physically thin people as beautiful and popular, whilst fat people are outcasts and victims of bullying. Some victims might turn to drastic measures to become part of the group and no longer be easily targeted victims. This is where eating disorders surface among students. In this case, you are discouraged to be who you want to be and it also becomes difficult to present yourself as an individual and gain confidence. Social stigma may be a cause of depression, which leads to lower marks and may result in a student not graduating. At university, when students constantly stigmatize against one another, they tend to fall into depression, which is described as the “persistent feeling of sadness and despair and a loss of interest in previous sources of pleasure” (Weiten, 2011, p.587). Depression has many negative impacts on a person’s health. Students at university tend to feel like complete outsiders when they are in the presence of their peers. This causes them to behave and act in ways, that are completely different from the way they normally act, just to gain approval. Thus, causing them to feel alone and isolated. Therefore, the self-fulfilling prophecy is activated and students start to believe all the discriminating things, said about them. They also start to feel, believe and act as expected by the society. According to psychology examples, when a child is constantly told their smart, they tend to believe it and behave accordingly (Weiten, 2011, p.534).
In addition, stigma prevents students from playing an active role at university and in the society at large. Social stigma reduces self-esteem and with low self-esteem, students isolate themselves, keeping all their ideas to themselves. For example, during a lesson, a student with low self-esteem, will rarely participate due to the fact that they do not believe their ideas to be good enough and as a result, will be stigmatized by the majority of the class.
For example, in developing countries, like Namibia, many new and creative ideas of the youth, to lead the country to economic prosperity are ignored. If the youth are the future leaders of this country, then they need to be active members of the society. How are they expected to lead a country with every judgement passed onto them? It is very difficult, for an individual, to come out and share the knowledge they have, when they are constantly looked down upon or when others doubt them and their abilities. These prejudices, caused by the stigma, may even prevent students from coming forward and seeking help. With mental social stigma, we have the fear or impression, that people with mental illnesses, are violent. This results in society avoiding interaction with them. The moment someone is under the impression they are a threat to the society, it affects them to such an extent, they may also start to fear society. Addictions and substance abuse is believed by students to be ‘cool’ and a way to fit in. Some students, however, use alcohol and drugs as a gateway, to forget all the stigma against them. People are likely to engage into unwise patterns of using drugs and alcohol consumption, as a behavioral response to stigma (Weiten, 2011, p.548).
Also, homophobia has negative beliefs and discrimination of people based on their sexual orientation. This affects people, who are identified as gay and bisexual. The negative attitudes increase the chances of experiencing more violence, compared to other students. Homosexuality is still a taboo in many African countries. The most common excuse being, it’s against culture. Namibia is yet to legalize homosexuality; therefore, it can be a contributing factor to the social stigma especially in universities where the students are exposed to many things.
Lastly, tribal stigma is concerned with the aspect of gender. It is passed down genetically. Social stigma is very traumatizing, so students should take in consideration not to fall victim of it at all, rather than try to avoid it or fight against it, because at the end of the day it just causes harm to them. Students should be able to open up with others in order to fight stigma. Interacting with fellow students saves you from feeling neglected and other people will be able to accept you for who you are and not judge you for any reason. Learn to accept yourself and not change yourself in order to impress people around you. It is a need to launch campaigns at educational institutions and social organizations to speak out against stigma and also help students who feel they face stigma in their environment.
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