The Stigma Trap

The majority of American workers experience unemployment, and millions get trapped in devastating long-term unemployment. Drawing on interviews with unemployed workers, job recruiters, and career coaches, The Stigma Trap explains how the stigma of unemployment can render past educational and professional achievements irrelevant, leaving all American workers--including the most highly educated--vulnerable to getting trapped in unemployment. Eye-opening and clearly written, The Stigma Trap is essential reading for anyone who has experienced unemployment, has a family member or friend who is unemployed, or who wants to understand the forces that underlie the anxiety-filled lives of contemporary American workers.

Ofer Sharone is an Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He is a nationally recognized expert on unemployment and the author of the award-winning book Flawed System/Flawed Self: Job Searching and Unemployment Experiences (University of Chicago Press). His work has received wide attention from national media outlets, including The New York Times and PBS NewsHour, and he has been invited to participate in policy discussions at the White House and the U.S. Department of Labor. Sharone is also the founder of the Institute for Career Transitions, a non-profit organization focused on supporting long-term unemployed workers.

- Chapter 1: Introduction
- Chapter 2: The Trap: Advanced Degree from Harvard, Experienced, and Long-Term Unemployed?
- Chapter 3: Networking and Feeling like Beggars and Used Car Salesmen
- Chapter 4: The Stigma Inside
- Chapter 5: Our Closest Relations: Marriage and Friendships
- Chapter 6: Countering Internalized Stigma and Sociological Coaching
- Chapter 7: Confronting Stigma: Activism and Policy
- Methodological Appendix
- Notes
- References
- Index