Seccombe Ch.3- My Position on the Issue of Denial

I agree that all the forms of denial that Seccombe discusses exists upon welfare recipients. Not all recipients manage the stigma in the same way when using the denial strategy. Some women deny encounters of negative attidues towards them, some women suggest that people had been especially nice to them, some women seemed unaware of the stigma attached to welfare recipients, and other women avoided the stigma by avoiding people or places where stigma is likely to be encountered. Each woman manages the stigma in their own way which works best for them. They don't want to make themselves appear to be a victim of poverty to others. They just want to be treated in the same manner everyone else is treated. They don't want people staring and talking about them as they see them paying for groceries with food stamps. Due to all of this, they figure out the ways, which was already discussed, to prevent the stigma from further affecting their lives. The denial strategy entails that the women avoid and/or ignore the truth, which is the stigma attached to welfare. If this strategy helps them to feel more at ease with their given situation, then so be it. Although denial has to do with not facing reality, most of these women know the truth and reality about the stigma attached to welfare. Being in denial is a strategy that helps them cope with the problem.