What if there are other factors that contribute to how the poor perceive, feel and experience poverty? We have not given much thought to how the poor feel and experience poverty.
What if these factors affect the engagement, inclusivity, and effectiveness of anti-poverty policies that the Government of Indonesia has been implementing? Robert Walker in his book, The Shame of Poverty , argues that the element of shame, humiliation, and stigmatisation are a large part of how the poor experience poverty, where he investigated these nuances in 13 countries, both in the Global South and Global North. Woman making handicraft from lontar, photo by author. Coming to wedding parties, in fact, to them, is an extremely important opportunity, where they can exercise their cultural rights and socialise with other community members.
Further, by not coming to several wedding parties in a row they would increase their sense of lacking as a person and vulnerability, which amplify the sense of deprivation. This self-doubt and sense of low worth to the society restrict the marginalised groups from contributing in decision making. This could have negative outcomes for low-income groups as decision-making is dominated by wealthier individuals in the villages.
Shame and stigma are not only preventing the marginalised citizens from accessing their rights thus perpetuating poverty, but also builds the stereotype towards poverty and restricts opportunities. Labelling and stigma have reinforced neo-liberalism value in viewing poverty and risks reinforcing stigma in the community.
Just by being poor, marginalised citizens are often demotivated and hesitate to engage in meaningful relationships with community members, which can undermine social cohesion and social inclusion. The social-control mechanisms, such as gendered-social norms, gossip and rumours, also play roles in reinforcing shame, stigma, and humiliation.
If the poor cannot reach a certain bar of social expectations, they get penalised by society through gossip and rumours. Michael Buehler 17 August, Girls and women are expected to appear and behave in a specific way in the public sphere: to always be friendly, wear modest clothes, be motherly, and be ready to help the community if there are events.
If girls and women do not perform these expected norms, there is often gossip and stigma from the community. Boys and men also have social expectations with penalties if they are not reached, but at a lower level compared to girls and women.
Bourgeois, L. Capuano, C. Que faire de nos vieux? Castel, R. Une chronique du salariat , Paris: Fayard. Duvoux, N. Geremek, B. Huret, R. Kitts, A. Le Roy Ladurie, E.
Monod, H. Noiriel, G. La Tyrannie du national. Olson, M. Paugam, S. Institutional stigma is also seen in how poverty is framed and discussed though the media, as demonstrated by the negative stereotypes of benefits claimants that are commonly perpetuated through newspapers [5].
Social stigma includes public attitudes toward poverty and welfare, and are typically measured through national surveys. Data from the British Attitudes Survey for example show that individualistic explanations of poverty have become more prevalent over time in the United Kingdom. Public attitudes towards welfare are complicated and vary considerably across different forms of benefits, although one area where negative attitudes are particularly common is unemployment.
Personal stigma occurs when individuals internalise the various forms of stigma and discrimination that they experience or perceive from others. On this point, a recent review of qualitative research shows how people living on low incomes may draw on social and political discourses of poverty and come to think of themselves as inadequate or having failed in some way. Individuals may come to internalise negative attitudes surrounding welfare for example, or become self-critical when they are unable to meet certain social expectations [7].
This can leave people feeling guilty, ashamed or humiliated, which has a corrosive effect on their self-esteem [8]. Recognising the various forms that stigma takes draws attention to the importance of developing anti-stigma campaigns that challenge prejudice and discrimination across the various institutional, social and personal levels.
Interventions that focus exclusively on one form of stigma within a particular context may produce positive results in the short term, but that these gains are unlikely to be maintained if the wider structural and social contexts remain unchanged [9].
There will be many lessons to be learned in this regard from other national campaigns, such as See Me. This campaign aims to tackle mental illness stigma and discrimination at different levels and through a number of different activities, ranging from arts-based awareness raising to directly challenging negative media portrayals of mental ill health [10].
There is also a need for campaigners and researchers to better understand how institutional, social and personal forms of stigma are related to and affect one another. Therefore, interventions that seek to change public attitudes toward poverty for example may also have the potential to change the broader social and structural sources of stigma. There are implications here for how researchers should monitor evaluate the impacts of anti-stigma campaigns, which may have wider impacts beyond the initial scope of an intervention.
It is also important to recognise that power is central to stigma, and that stigma can only occur when individuals have sufficient economic, social and political resources to effectively label, stereotype and discriminate against others 9. To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs , and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us. All Rights Reserved. OSO version 0. University Press Scholarship Online. Sign in. Not registered? Sign up. Publications Pages Publications Pages.
0コメント