There are many ways a person can acquire a deviant identity. Because of physical or behavioral characteristics, some people are unwillingly cast in negative social roles, once they have been assigned a deviant role, they have trouble presenting a positive image to others, and may even experience lowered self-esteem. Whole groups of people for instance, “short people” or “redheads” may be labeled in this way (Heckert and Best 1997). The interactionist Erving Goffman (see Chapter 1 and 4) coined the term stigma to describe the labels society uses to devalue members of certain social groups (Goffman 1963a).