Thomas Jan Stodulka

One stigma too much? – Coping with marginality and HIV-AIDS among male street youths in a Javanese city

The PhD focuses on the coping strategies of male street youths in the face of stigmatization by a dominant Indonesian public society (masyarakat), which is highly conspicious about publicly observable individuality and norm deviance. The adherence to its organizing principles, which are based on the Javanese concepts of seniority, social prestige, patriarchy and the maintenance of social harmony (rukun), is decidedly associated with both individual and collective morality. Publicly observable violations of these principles are equaled with “immorality”, and severe transgressions can be sanctioned with social exclusion. Thus, the guiding question throughout the research asks how male street youths and young adults, who are particularly visible in the public space negotiate these “highly moralized” socio-cultural values and social emotions of malu, sungkan, or konflik batin in coping with marginality, stigma, and HIV-AIDS.

Regarding its socio-political relevance, this research is intended as a contribution to the development and maintenance of sustainable support programs by promoting mutual understanding between different stakeholders of street communities, welfare institutions and hospitals.
 

Email: Thomas.Stodulka[at]fu-berlin.de