How to live with spoiled identity: stigma management in aphasic families

Samenvatting

In recent years, aphasiological research has shifted from cognitive to communicative and psychosocial aspects of aphasia. These dimensions of chronic illness are captured in the International Classification of Impairments, Disabilities and Handicaps (ICIDH-2), developed by the WHO. In terms of the ICIDH-2, participation refers to the impact of illness on a person's involvement in life situations. In this paper, I will apply Goffman's concept of stigma-management to aphasia. It will be argued that this notion is useful for describing and analyzing processes of social desintegration, i.e. a reduction of the participation, as a consequence of faulty verbal behaviour in interaction. According to Goffman, stigma-management includes techniques to keep the stigma out of the focus of the interaction. With regard to communication between aphasics and their spouses, the following questions will be addressed: firstly, how do aphasics keep the stigma, i.e. their verbal deficits, out of the focus of the communication? Secondly, how do their relatives respond to these strategies?