Stigma (Social psychology)

There are two types of stigmas: self-stigma and public stigma. The focus of this dissertation was public stigma. The public stigma encountered by persons with Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) contributes to the isolation of families due to the effort made by AD caregivers to adjust to social challenges (Abojabel & Warner, 2019). According to the Saudi Alzheimer’s Disease Association (2022), there are 130 thousand documented cases of AD, which comprised 9% of the aged population. The severity of stigmas can vary across cultures because stigmas of disease are connected to cultural norms (Corrigan, 2014). Most studies conducted in Saudi Arabia have assessed public stigma regarding mental illnesses, but no study has been found regarding public stigma within the AD scope. Population-based approaches that attempt to clarify stigma level prevalence in representative samples are important to develop methods to address these disparities and ensure equitable access to health care within the population's cultural context.
The aim of this study was to 1) identify the relationship between public stigma and the level of AD knowledge among the Saudi population and 2) identify the potential factors that were associated with public stigma and AD knowledge levels among Saudi community members, within the context of a caring science perspective using critical caring theory and specific-situation theory.

The purpose of this pilot study was to determine the effect of vignettes about Alzheimer’s dementia (AD) on stigma and attitudes toward people with Alzheimer’s dementia (PWAD) in a sample of community residents of adults 65 years and older. The specific aims of this study were: (1) to determine the effect of vignettes on AD- related stigma and negative attitudes toward people with AD among adults age 65 years and over, and (2) to describe AD- related stigma and negative attitudes in ethnically and racially diverse groups of older adults. A convenience sampling design was used to recruit 50 participants from a medical office in Boca Raton. The sample included adults age 65 years and older from the community, who understood English and scored 25 or higher on Mini Mental State Exam (MMSE). Participants were randomly assigned to the control group (n=22) who received standard AD education or to the intervention (n=28) who received vignettes and standard AD education. Independent t-test was used to analyze the pretest- posttest change scores in the measures of DAS and STIG-MA survey. The significance (p value) was set at .05. In research question two, the samples were
divided into 1) white non- Hispanic and 2) other diverse groups. Descriptive statistics were used to explore racial or ethnic differences in stigma and attitudes. The intervention used vignettes and AD education to decrease stigma and attitudes toward people with dementia and showed statistical significance as compared to the control group who received only the AD education.

This dissertation investigates how government affects stigmatization processes. This line of inquiry is important for two reasons. First, existing models of stigmatization leave government out of stigma processes, or only mention government as a sanctioning body that comes in after stigma processes are complete. Organizational theory research therefore underplays the extent to which government action can influence its citizens.
Second, stigma research in public administration and government research is limited to examining how government can assist stigmatized groups, and not on how government affects stigma processes. This inadvertently gives the impression that government is not part of stigma processes. While this may be due to the bulk of stigma theory research being located in the management literature, it is nonetheless a significant omission. Thus, the purpose of this study is to examine how government can influence the proliferation of stigma to then find government’s location in the stigma process.

Females diagnosed with a substance use disorder (SUD) may experience more
stigmatization and need more social support than males. Traditional therapeutic services
provide interventions and treatment that is uniform for males and females. The available
research on female substance users does not address meaningful connections and
relationships with others, and its effect on overall wellness. The objective of this study
was to address the importance of social support, stigmatization, and wellness. A sample
of 232 females diagnosed with SUD, at least 18 years of age, responded to three
instruments and a demographic form.
The results of this study indicate that income and age are predictors of overall
wellness and explained 12% of the variance in wellness, when using a multiple regression
analysis, (adjusted R^2 = .119, p = .000). Relationship status and relationship length
demonstrated significance as predictors of social support, explaining 5.6% of the variance
in social support, using a multiple regression analysis, (adjusted R^2 = .056, p = .001). Number of children, age, and relationship length demonstrated significance as predictors
of stigmatization, accounting for 9.4% of the variance in stigmatization, (adjusted R^2 =
.094, p = .000). Social support accounted for 4.1% of the variance in stigmatization using
a multiple regression analysis, (adjusted R^2 = .041, p = .001). Social support explained
39% of the variance in wellness, (adjusted R^2 = .394, p = .000). Using a hierarchical
regression analysis to control for stigmatization, social support explained 44% of the
variance in wellness, (adjusted R^2 = .438, p = .000). Finally, social support mediates the
relationship between stigmatization and wellness, when using path analysis.
This study provided support for specific treatment for females in substance abuse
treatment; particularly concerning social support, stigmatization, and wellness. These
females with SUD reported that social support increased wellness, correlating with
decreased stigmatization. Conversely, females who experienced increased stigmatization
and decreased social support also experienced decreased wellness. Social support
mediated the impact of stigmatization and wellness.

This thesis aims to understand how en-wheeled women engaged in hyperfemininity as a stigma management technique in order to diminish asexualization. Grounding my work in the tradition of Goffman and symbolic interaction, I argue that women who do hyperfemininity as a stigma management technique do so in an attempt to make their identity as a woman more salient then their identity as someone who is disabled. As most of the research surrounding disability focuses on masculinity and disabled women‘s heterosexuality it is imperative to continue the expansion of scholarship at the intersection of disability and gender.

This thesis explores gender, disability and literature in the Global South through an examination of the writings of two physically disabled contemporary women writers from Nepal, BIshnu Kumari Waiwa and Jhamak Ghimire. I show how these renowned contemporary writers challenge stigmas of the disabled body by deconstructiong the "ideology of ability" through their poetry, fiction, and autobiographical narratives. Religious and cultural values disable women's autonomy in general, and create even greater disadvantages for women who are physically disabled. Challenging these cultural stigmas, Waiwa and Ghimire celebrate sexuality and disability as sources of creativity, agency, and identity in narratives that deconstruct cultural or social models of sexuality, motherhood, and beauty. In this thesis feminist disability and feminist theory guide an analysis of Waiwa and Ghimire's writing to advance our understanding of gender, culture, disability and literature in the Global South.