Stigma, deviance and morality in young adults' accounts of inflammatory bowel disease

For young adults with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), perceived stigma has been found to be a salient concern. Drawing on interviews with individuals with IBD aged 18-29 (n = 16), this article uses rhetorical discourse analysis to explore how stigma is discursively constructed by young adults, with a focus on the moral underpinnings of the participants' talk. Their representations showed both felt stigma and enacted stigma; principally related to the perceived taboo surrounding the symptoms of their condition, which often led to the non-disclosure or concealment of the condition. The different ways in which stigma is manifested in the accounts present a challenge to recent arguments questioning the relevance of this concept in chronic illness research, though it was found that it is not adequate to look at stigma alone and, given the unstable nature of IBD, negotiating stigma in relation to possible charges of deviance is a pertinent issue for these young adults. For instance, non-disclosure because of shame could result in individuals experiencing blame. Accounts were constructed through a range of discursive strategies, allowing the participants to present themselves in morally appropriate ways throughout. Suggestions are made about future directions in addressing stigma and deviance in relation to this cohort.