The dwarf the disfigured the blind man the homosexual the ex-mental patient & the member of a racial or religious minority all share one characteristic they are all socially "abnormal" & therefore in danger of being considered less then human Whether ordinary people react by rejection by over-hearty acceptance or by plain embarressment their main concern is with such an individual's deviance not with the whole of his personality " Stigma" is a study of situations where normal & abnormal meet & of the ways in which a stigmatized person can develop a more positive social & personal identity