Coping with Stigma: An Adult Learners' Perspective

Abstract

This study contributes to the research on stigma and adult literacy by giving voice to an understudied and marginalized group. It allows adults with literacy challenges to elaborate on how they accomplish everyday activities, to describe what strategies they use to manage stigma, and to tell their stories about how stigma has affected various domains of their lives. This study also explores some participants' experience with stigma during childhood and its impact on their self-esteem and self-efficacy for learning. It situates these findings in a larger social context by analyzing changes in self-concept and lifelong learning goals of adult learners who have been participating in a literacy program for at least two years.