Social stigma in time of COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from India

Abstract

PurposeThe stigmatisation of COVID-19 patients or suspected cases is a matter of grave concern across the world, including India. Today, COVID-19 patients or suspected cases are being stigmatised or labelled as “corona carrier” and “corona spreader” because of which they are facing social rejection, mental torture, abusive behaviour and violence in the society. The objectives of the present study are to examine the nature of stigma construction in Indian society during COVID-19 pandemic and to explore its outcome on the well-being of corona-affected people.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses content analysis method to explain the COVID-19 stigma. The data have been collected from various Indian newspapers and magazines. The researchers have analysed the content of the news items related to social stigma which were collected from March to September 2020.FindingsThe study finds that COVID-19 patients or suspected cases are insulted and discriminated rudely by their family members and neighbours, and in many cases, they are not allowed to enter the house or the neighbourhood. The study has also pointed out that many COVID-19 patients or suspected cases have committed suicide as a result of being stigmatisation. Finally, the study explores that this social stigma is spreading due to fake news, lack of awareness and fear of corona infection.Originality/valueThis is an original paper which is based on content analysis. The present study focuses on the social stigma in Indian society during COVID-19. Basically, the present study has applied the theory of Erving Goffman which is based on stigma to examine the nature and problem of social stigma during COVID-19. The study has found that there are three types of social stigma during the corona pandemic: self-made stigma, family-made stigma and society-made stigma.

The scar that takes time to heal: A systematic review of COVID-19-related stigma targets, antecedents, and outcomes

“…Media. Media factors (e.g., [social] media use 21,62 , lack of public health information 64 , and fake news 78 ) can influence stigma toward (suspected) patients and survivors in two ways: (1) low-quality and poorly regulated messages in the media (e.g., misinformation, and irresponsible reporting) may create misconceptions about COVID-19, aggravating stigma toward (suspected) patients and survivors, and (2) (suspected) patients and survivors' frequent use of media may increase their stigma perceptions due to exposure to misinformation and stigmatizing messages in the media.…”

“…One qualitative study 33 and one review 64 showed that lack of COVID-19 information in the media creates fear and uncertainty, which aggravate stigma toward (suspected) patients and survivors. Misinformation and fake news in the media also create misconceptions about COVID-19, which also contribute to stigma toward (suspected) patients and survivors 33,63,78 . In addition, a qualitative study showed that patients tend to blame irresponsible media reporting (e.g., disclosure of personal information, and false allegation) as the main driver of stigma toward them 79 .…”

“…Stigma negatively affects (suspected) patients' and survivors' mental health because the stigmatized perceive themselves as alienated, isolated, and belonging to a devalued group and perceive stigma as unfair. Indeed, empirical findings generally show that stigma harms (suspected) patients' and survivors' mental health and leads to issues like depression 62,65,79,97,98,99,100 , anxiety 31,33,79,97,98,99,100 , mental health disorders 101,102,103 , lower wellbeing 63,78,103,104 , PTSD 98,99,100,105,106,107 , and even self-harm or suicide 63,65,78 . For example, in a large sample involving more than 20,000 Chinese students, one study found that perceived discrimination due to COVID-19 is positively related to self-harm or suicidal ideation 65 .…”

A Phenomenological Content Analysis of Elder Abuse during COVID-19 Pandemic in India

“…In addition, so many myths have been spread about COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in a negative attitude in the person’s behaviour toward others or, more specifically, towards the sick person (Patel & Kumar, 2021a). People have been abused and subjected to emotional, verbal and physical abuse because of the negativity of this COVID-19 pandemic (Patel & Kumar, 2021a; Sahoo & Patel, 2021b). All these factors contributed to a person’s increasing distance from his or her family and society.…”

“…The researcher discovered common keywords used by Indian journalists when reporting on similar instances from offline newspapers and utilised those terms to search for material on internet platforms. Utilise keywords such as banned, threat, entrance, abuse, denial, stigma, assault and discrimination while doing an internet search for elder abuse induced by COVID-19 (Sahoo & Patel, 2021b).…”