Stigma

“Problem youth.” “Troublemakers.” “That group from the square.” Young people in Streetwise hear these labels from neighbours, schools, the media and sometimes from professionals. Stigma means reducing a person to one negative label. It changes how others treat them, and how they see themselves.

Why it matters

Labelling theory describes how a label can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. When young people are treated as criminals, opportunities close and the label starts to fit. Stigma also becomes internal: self-stigma. Research calls this the “why try” effect: “If everyone sees me as a criminal anyway, why try?”

Stigma often stacks up: neighbourhood, background, appearance, police contact. Yet young people are not passive victims of labels. Criminologist Abdessamad Bouabid (2018), who advises M&K, interviewed Moroccan-Dutch young men about the negative image of “Moroccans” in the Netherlands. Most coped actively: they ignored it, adapted where needed, or disproved the label by being a positive role model. Very few took the label on.

Stigma in our own work

Trainers are not immune. Stigma can enter through the words in our reports, how we talk in team meetings, or low expectations. If we describe a young person only through incidents, we repeat the label we want to break.

What you do

• Use person-first language: say “a young person who has been in contact with the police”, not “a criminal”. Words shape how colleagues and partners see someone.

• Separate behaviour from identity: “That was a bad choice” leaves room to change. “You are a bad kid” does not.

• Keep expectations high and realistic: show that you believe change is possible, and say it out loud.

• Create a safe and brave space: a place without judgement, where young people also dare to be challenged. Equality and a cultural match between trainers and young people help.

• Give them new roles: in the community garden, during sport or in a group task, young people are seen as contributors. New roles create new self-images and support the way many young people already disprove labels.

• Make help normal: talk about stress, anger or money problems as part of life. This lowers the barrier to support.

• Challenge stigma in your network: speak up when partners or neighbours use labels, and share what young people achieve.

From practice

Near our office in Kanaleneiland, the Streetwise group works in a community garden during the growing season. There, young people are not “that group from the square” but gardeners who take care of something together. Three young people from the group who had dropped out of school now follow a training in care, because they want to help others.

Try this week

Read your last three reports. Would the young person recognise themselves in them? Rewrite one sentence that describes a label instead of behaviour.

Key message

You cannot remove stigma on your own. But you can make sure that, with you, a young person is more than their label.