Stigma Syndemics

Reviews / Votes

This book unpacks how stigma-of abortion, menstruation, incarceration, immigration, and poverty-cannot be detached from structural vulnerabilities. Social-biological, social-psychological, and biological-psychological interactions exemplify how social experiences cannot be detached from syndemic theory. In these cases, it is the social experience of exclusion through stigmatization that systematically fuels isolation, ostracization, and subjugation from which poor health stems. -- Emily Mendenhall, Georgetown University Stigma Syndemics is a serious and long-overdue examination into one of the most pernicious drivers of widespread affliction. The contributors to this rare collection reveal how stigma in its many forms sits at the center of numerous seemingly intractable challenges. They also issue a clear mandate to overcome the pervasive threat of stigma in its widest sense. -- Bobby Milstein, ReThink Health and Massachusetts Institute of Technology This book reminds us of the power of stigma and its role as a cog in syndemic interactions. Stigma serves to create and reinforce 'the other.' The crucial role of othering in exposing people to risk, affecting their ability to disclose, limiting their access to care, changing the nature of their care, and creating life long suffering is well explored in this book through a series of case studies. In this volume, authors demonstrate that conditions we might consider as normal, e.g. pregnancy, or minor, such as dental disease, are shown to be caught up in vicious cycles of disease, blame and suffering. This book is a salutary reminder to pay attention to trajectories of blame and that a focus on syndemics allows for tracing the precise pathways of stigma and its effects. -- Judith Littleton, University of Auckland