Discounted, Yet Still Powerful: Goffman's Concept of the Stigma of Race Restructured in the 21st Century

Abstract

In an investigation of whether Goffman’s (1963) concept of the stigma of race is still relevant in understanding current social attitudes in 21st century America, this dissertation examines the link between Goffman’s (1963) concept of the stigma of race and research focused primarily on racism and prejudice. Six research questions examined different aspects of social attitudes among Americans: their view of people of other races, judgments toward those of minority racial groups, intergroup communication between people from different racial backgrounds, the influence of the media and other information sources, and the extent of the relationship between stigma and racism. The research included a between-subjects experimental design, Implicit Association Tests, and racism measures, including the social dominance orientation, right-wing authoritarianism, old-fashioned and modern racism, and blatant dehumanization scales, along with the stigma dimensions developed by Bresnahan and Zhuang (2011). Based on the findings, this study proposed new racial stigma dimensions to study the stigma of race. This study contributes to the theoretical and practical understanding around issues of stigma and race in the United States, has practical suggestions that may help guide the way to dismantle the forces that perpetuate the stigma of race, and provides encouragement to continue to seek a pathway to better intergroup communication, acceptance of diverse groups, and social equity.