Accessibility statement

Stigma, Power and Resistance - SPY00082H

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  • Department: Social Policy and Social Work
  • Credit value: 20 credits
  • Credit level: H
  • Academic year of delivery: 2024-25

Module summary

This module will introduce students to theories of stigma and power as lenses through which to explore the treatment and experiences of key groups who are the target of social policies and interventions.

Module will run

Occurrence Teaching period
A Semester 1 2024-25

Module aims

This module will introduce students to theories of stigma and power as lenses through which to explore the treatment and experiences of key groups who are the target of social policies and interventions. It will consider macro-level processes of stigma production as well as developing insight into the experiences and consequences of stigma. It will further encourage an engagement with the ways in which individuals and groups of people can be observed to be resisting stigma and challenging dominant power relationships, and the outcomes of this. Further, it will consider the interplay between stigma, power, and policymaking processes, and the ways in which particular policy choices and justifications can be better understood when considered alongside ideas of stigma, power and resistance.

Module learning outcomes

  • Understand the theories surrounding stigma, power and resistance

  • Understand how theories of stigma, power and resistance relate to aspects of difference and diversity, i.e., gender, age, class, ethnicity, and how these intersect

  • Apply theoretical frameworks to help us understand the experience and impact of stigma on different social groups

  • Understand the interplay between stigma, power and the policymaking process

  • Appreciate how different research strategies and data help us understand the reach and impact of stigma

Module content

A number of case studies will explore how these ideas and theories of stigma, power and resistance are acted out and impact upon diverse groups (to include, for example, ‘welfare dependants’, drug users, offenders, people with mental health problems, people with experiences of homelessness, teenage parents). This component of the module will draw upon expertise across the wider School to help facilitate research led teaching.

Teaching would include a combination of lecturers, interactive workshops and assignment clinics, with social media also employed to support learning and to encourage engagement with the ideas developed in the module in a contemporary context.

Indicative assessment

Task % of module mark
Essay/coursework 100

Special assessment rules

None

Indicative reassessment

Task % of module mark
Essay/coursework 100

Module feedback

Feedback will be given in accordance with the University Policy on feedback in the Guide to Assessment as well as in line with the School policy.

Indicative reading

Goffman, E (1990), Stigma, notes on the management of spoiled identity, New Edition. London: Penguin Books.

Tyler, I & Slater, T (Eds) (2018), The Sociology of Stigma, Sociological Review Seminar Series.

Link, B. G. & Phelan, J (2014), Stigma Power, Social Science and Medicine, 103, 24-32.


The information on this page is indicative of the module that is currently on offer. The University constantly explores ways to enhance and improve its degree programmes and therefore reserves the right to make variations to the content and method of delivery of modules, and to discontinue modules, if such action is reasonably considered to be necessary. In some instances it may be appropriate for the University to notify and consult with affected students about module changes in accordance with the University's policy on the Approval of Modifications to Existing Taught Programmes of Study.