01627nas a2200313   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653001000055653002700065653002000092653002400112653002700136653001100163653001100174653001000185653001200195653000900207653001200216653001400228653002000242100001400262245006800276856006900344300001100413490000700424050001700431520085100448022001401299       2005                            d  c2005 Jun10aAdult10aAnthropology, Cultural10aCost of Illness10aDenial (Psychology)10aDissociative Disorders10aFemale10aHumans10aIndia10aleprosy10aMale10aPoverty10aPrejudice10aSelf Mutilation1 aBarrett R00aSelf-mortification and the stigma of leprosy in northern India.  uhttp://postonfam.atlblogs.com/archives/Barrett_StigmaLeprosy.pdf  a216-300 v19  aBARRETT 20053 a<p>This article examines the biocultural dynamics of social discrimination and physical disfigurement among people with leprosy, or Hansen's disease (HD), in Banaras, northern India. Based on the narratives and observations ofpeople living in colony and street settings, I trace three destructive processes by which the social stigmata of leprosy become physically expressed. First, strategies of concealment further the progression and spread of HD through late detection and undertreatment. Second, the internalization of stigma can lead to bodily dissociation and injury through self-neglect. Finally, some people intentionally seek injuries under conditions of desperate poverty. As a result of such mortification processes, these people came to embody, quite literally, the prejudices that exacerbated their condition in the first place.</p>  a0745-5194