Primary and secondary deviance
Lemert separated transient rule-breaking (primary deviance) from deviance organised around a deviant identity produced by social reaction (secondary deviance). Becker argued that deviance results from the application of rules.
Scheff's labelling theory
Scheff held that residual rule-breaking is common and usually transient, but once publicly labelled in a crisis, a person is pushed into the stereotyped role of the mentally ill. Gove and others criticised the neglect of actual symptoms.
Goffman on stigma
Goffman defined stigma as a deeply discrediting attribute and analysed how the discredited and the discreditable manage information; in Asylums he described the mortification of self in total institutions.
Modified labelling theory
Link and colleagues proposed that internalised beliefs about devaluation and discrimination become self-relevant after diagnosis, leading to secrecy or withdrawal and harming jobs, networks and self-esteem—often called self-stigma.
Reducing stigma
Corrigan identified protest, education and contact strategies; contact with people with lived experience shows the strongest effects. Compared with Parsons' sick role, some illnesses bring blame rather than exemption.
References
- Lemert, E. M. (1951). Social Pathology. McGraw-Hill.
- Scheff, T. J. (1966). Being Mentally Ill: A Sociological Theory. Aldine.
- Goffman, E. (1963). Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity. Prentice-Hall.
- Link, B. G., Cullen, F. T., Struening, E., Shrout, P. E., & Dohrenwend, B. P. (1989). A modified labeling theory approach to mental disorders. American Sociological Review, 54(3), 400-423.
- Corrigan, P. W., & Penn, D. L. (1999). Lessons from social psychology on discrediting psychiatric stigma. American Psychologist, 54(9), 765-776.