Pages 155 - 167 Volume 82, Issue 2
Back
0
Download
A
Leprosy, the key to another kingdom
Heide Poestges
  Heide Poestges
Affiliation
NIHR King’s Patient Safety and Service Quality Research Centre, King’s College, London
Correspondence to: Heide Poestges, NIHR King’s Patient Safety and Service Quality Research Centre, King’s College London, Rm. GL11, – 2 Basement, Strand Bridge House, 138–142 Strand, London WC2R 1HH (e-mail: heide.poestges@kcl.ac.uk)
 Find this author on Google Scholar
 Find this author on PubMed
a,*
Objective:

In India, many people affected by leprosy still live in self-established settlements, commonly referred to as leprosy colonies. Aid organisations generally attribute the social segregation of colony members to the stigma attached to leprosy. In this article, I argue that the common approach towards leprosy colonies is actually based on a limited understanding of social relations between colony members and others. The insights from this study will hopefully facilitate re-thinking current approaches to stigma reduction in leprosy.

 Design:

An ethnographic study conducted over a period of three months in and around a leprosy colony in India. With the help of a local research assistant, I carried out semi-structured interviews, informal conversations, and participant as well as non-participant observation. I conducted interviews with 22 colony members and 25 residents from the adjacent neighbourhoods of the colony.

 Results:

This study reveals that the differentiation between colony members and others derived at least as much from community membership as from stigma. Leprosy-affected people living outside the colony, for example, perceived the colony members as widely different from themselves, whilst stigma affected both groups. Programmes with the aim of reducing stigma need to approach stigma relations as embedded in various interrelated physio-emotional and socio-cultural processes, rather than approaching social aspects of leprosy by focusing exclusively on the notion of stigma.
Cite this article
Heide Poestges;
Leprosy, the key to another kingdom ; Leprosy Review; 2011; 82; 2; 155-167; DOI: 10.47276/lr.82.2.155
home.article_information

DOI: 10.47276/lr.82.2.155

articleview.journal_title: Leprosy Review
articleview.publisher: British Leprosy Relief Association
articleview.publisher_location: Colchester, UK
articleview.article_date_pre accepted on 07 April 2011 and articleview.pub_on 01 June 2011
© Lepra 2011
LEPROSY
Leprosy Review
0305-7518
British Leprosy Relief Association
Colchester, UK
15-5167
0305-7518/11/064053+13
10.47276/lr.82.2.155
Original Papers
Leprosy, the key to another kingdom
PoestgesHeide
a
a
NIHR King’s Patient Safety and Service Quality Research Centre, King’s College, London
Correspondence to: Heide Poestges, NIHR King’s Patient Safety and Service Quality Research Centre, King’s College London, Rm. GL11, – 2 Basement, Strand Bridge House, 138–142 Strand, London WC2R 1HH (e-mail: )
Stigma and community membership in and around a self-established settlement for leprosy-affected people in India.
01062011
82
2
155
167
07042011
© Lepra
2011
Objective:
In India, many people affected by leprosy still live in self-established settlements, commonly referred to as leprosy colonies. Aid organisations generally attribute the social segregation of colony members to the stigma attached to leprosy. In this article, I argue that the common approach towards leprosy colonies is actually based on a limited understanding of social relations between colony members and others. The insights from this study will hopefully facilitate re-thinking current approaches to stigma reduction in leprosy.
Design:
An ethnographic study conducted over a period of three months in and around a leprosy colony in India. With the help of a local research assistant, I carried out semi-structured interviews, informal conversations, and participant as well as non-participant observation. I conducted interviews with 22 colony members and 25 residents from the adjacent neighbourhoods of the colony.
Results:
This study reveals that the differentiation between colony members and others derived at least as much from community membership as from stigma. Leprosy-affected people living outside the colony, for example, perceived the colony members as widely different from themselves, whilst stigma affected both groups. Programmes with the aim of reducing stigma need to approach stigma relations as embedded in various interrelated physio-emotional and socio-cultural processes, rather than approaching social aspects of leprosy by focusing exclusively on the notion of stigma.