| Course Description |
Description: This course seeks to (1) illuminate psychological pathways through which stigma
impacts members of devalued social groups, and (2) investigate the mechanisms through which
interventions at different levels of an ecological system either succeed or fail. The course
considers identity devaluation, discrimination, and exclusion as general processes that apply to
an array of social categories and status characteristics, including sexual orientation, obesity,
mental illness, racial and ethnic identity, physical disability, immigration status, and having a
criminal record. Conceptualizing stigma as a multi-level construct, we will focus on both
psychological and structural mechanisms through which stigma harms its targets and contributes
to population-level inequalities. While the course will draw primarily on the literature in social
psychology, we will also consider research and writing from other disciplines, including clinical
psychology, sociology, public health, and law. Over the course of the semester, we will also
consider methodological issues in psychological research, including ways in which stigma, its
impacts, and intervention effects can be measured.
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