Modes of Effectualizing Stigmatization: Slurs, Nazi Salutes, and Rock Throwing at Lakeshore High School.

This study elucidates stigmatization’s mechanisms and power dynamics. Through semi-structured interviews with 13 recent alums and 11 educators at Lakeshore High School, we uncovered a culture of racism, cissexism, heterosexism, and Christian supremacy. Stigmatization manifested through three modes differing by intention, awareness, delivery, directness, and dominant forms of power: casual and misguided, offhand and vulgar, and blatant and traditional. Casual incidents reflect good intentions and perpetrators’ ignorance of their harmful behavior. Offhand incidents reflect offensive jokes and lewd comments openly expressed by perpetrators, emboldened by their lack of intention to cause harm. Blatant incidents reflect perpetrators openly displaying prejudice. Our typology highlights stigmatization process theory’s missing link: interactional processes – what we call “effectualization” – that transfer social boundaries and ideology into status loss and discrimination. Understanding this component has implications for creating equitable environments that uphold dignity and challenging broader societal systems of stigmatization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]