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JUSTICE, STIGMA, AND THE NEW EPIDEMIOLOGY OF HEALTH DISPARITIES
Author(s) -
COURTWRIGHT ANDREW M.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
bioethics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.494
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 1467-8519
pISSN - 0269-9702
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8519.2008.00717.x
Subject(s) - health equity , stigma (botany) , social determinants of health , social epidemiology , health care , socioeconomic status , distributive justice , social psychology , social stigma , sociology , economic justice , psychology , criminology , political science , medicine , environmental health , economic growth , psychiatry , population , economics , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , family medicine , law
Recent research in epidemiology has identified a number of factors beyond access to medical care that contribute to health disparities. Among the so‐called socioeconomic determinants of health are income, education, and the distribution of social capital. One factor that has been overlooked in this discussion is the effect that stigmatization can have on health. In this paper, I identify two ways that social stigma can create health disparities: directly by impacting health‐care seeking behaviour and indirectly through the internalization of negative interpersonal judgments. I then argue that social arrangements that foster self‐respect can reduce the impact of stigmatization on health disparities. I conclude by showing how John Rawls' conception of justice can be used to address the intersection of stigma, health, and self‐respect, in contrast to critics of his position, who have seen him as excessively focused on the allocation of material goods.