The Stigmatizers and the Stigmatized

Enacting the Social Construction of Difference and Discrimination

Bibliographic Data

ID11062878
AuthorsDiane M Rodgers (0000-0002-2966-6899, Northern Illinois University, corresponding author)
Year2003
Volume31
Issue3
Pages319
Publication date2003-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueTeaching Sociology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0092-055X • E-ISSN: 1939-862X
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.2307/3211329
OpenAlexW2000006643
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited6

Toward the end of the semester in my deviance classes, I have the students take part in an exercise, which synthesizes various themes from the readings and lectures and reinforces the overall concept of the social construction of deviance we have discussed throughout the semester (Becker 1963; Conrad 1993; Heckert and Best 1997). Rather than present a lecture on the topic, I first began utilizing this exercise as a way to vividly illustrate social movement activity in relation to deviance. For some students, this exercise constitutes their first participation in a social movement, albeit a fictitious one. They identify goals and learn techniques and strategies based on an imaginary stigma they create themselves. The students' creativity brings to life certain sociological concepts as they watch their campaigns building. Although the circumstances are imaginary, through this exercise the students grasp the real life significance of how stigma can be created through social interaction. The tension created between the campaign and counter-campaign can be exciting and intense as students become invested in the socially constructed issue

Criminology · Epistemology · Pedagogy · Social science · Sociology · Crime, Deviance, and Social Control · Gender Studies · Media, Gender, and Advertising · Philosophy · Psychology · Social and Cultural Studies · Social Psychology

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