Affiliate Stigma of Mothers of Differently-Abled Children: An Exploration

Affiliate stigma involves the extent of self-stigmatization among associates of targeted minorities or already negatively labelled people. In psychology, the nature of stigmatization has been studied vigorously in the field of mental illness. Comparatively stigma is a less studied but important phenomenon in the field of disability. Caregivers play a major role in the lives of children with developmental disabilities. The quality and efficiency of their caretaking may be affected by the manifestations of stigma. The objective of the current study is to explore the nature of affiliate stigma associated with mothers of children with developmental disabilities such as autism, intellectual disabilities, and ADHD etc. Data were collected using a semi structured interview and 16 mothers were participated in the study. Thematic analysis was carried out to understand the underlying themes and themes identified were belong to type of disability, nature and severity of disability, attitude of family members, coping patterns, attitude of society in general, professional support, time duration after diagnosis. Details are discussed in the paper.