social stigma

n. A severe and enduring form of social disapproval of personal, behavioral, or social characteristics that often leads to formal or informal punishment and partial exclusion from a culture or subculture. One source of stigma is physical deformity, such as bodily malformation, or disease, as in having a humpback or leprosy. A second source is the behavioral or personal characteristics of the individual, as in child molesters, drug addicts, or, in the United States, supporters of Islamic terrorists. A third source is belonging to a disfavored social or ethnic group, as Jews have traditionally been persecuted by Christians, African Americans are still stigmatized in the United States, and Christians and Buddhists were stigmatized by the Taliban when they ran Afghanistan. All three forms of stigma are found in most large cultures to some extent.