Stigma is used as a tool for motivating health behaviour change, often effective at budging otherwise hard-to-shift behaviour.
Shame-induced stigma most damages those already vulnerable, reinforcing health disparities.
Global health use of shaming tactics can inadvertently worsen health-damaging stigma, especially for those with the least power.
These effects, that drive additional health disparities and suffering, are difficult to prevent.
Ethically and practically, stigma should never be deployed as a global health tool because the effects are often both unavoidable and invisible to outsiders.
Brewis, A., Wutich, A. (2019). Why We Should Never Do It: Stigma as a Behavior Change Tool BMJ Global Health
English
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