identity- key terms on: formation and stigma

Question 1

identity

Answer 1

how individuals see and define themselves and how others see and define them.

Question 2

how do some sociologists believe identity is formed

Answer 2

through the socialisation process and the influence of social institutions (like the family, education system and mass media), but others believe identity is a negotiation of how we view ourselves and how others view us along with the social interaction between us.

Question 3

individual identity

Answer 3

the unique personal and individual characteristics that help individuals understand who they are (e.g. Name and DNA)

Question 4

collective identity

Answer 4

an identity shared by a social group or a group identity (e.g. a feminist or a gang). Individuals choose to identify with the group and adopt the identity associated with it.

Question 5

social identity

Answer 5

an identity which defines individuals in relation to the social groups with which they are identified and which they belong (e.g. gender or ethnic groups)

Question 6

multiple identities

Answer 6

having several identities (e.g. sex, class) which they draw on different ones in different situations (e.g. being a good son in the home but with mates he will act deviant potentially)

Question 7

what are the 2 types of stigma?

Answer 7

physical impairment (e.g. having aids or being blind)
social characteristic (e.g. mental illness or sex offender)

Question 8

what did Goffman say a stigmatised identity is?

Answer 8

an identity that is in some way undesirable or demeaning, excluding people from full acceptance in society.

Question 9

interactionalist perspective on the formation of identity

Answer 9

identity emerges partly as a result of social interaction (e.g. creating a public version of yourself to manipulate how others see you). some groups may have difficulty presenting a positive view of themselves due to social stigma. A self-concept is developed through interactions with others because it’s partly based on how others react to the individual.
Therefore, they believe that identity is negotiated by individuals.

Question 10

postmodernist perspective on the formation of identity
(including Bauman and Hobswarms arguments as postmodernists)

Answer 10

identity is continually created and recreated through our consumption of cultural products and symbols (e.g. music and clothes).
Bauman argues that identity no longer has a stable basis and identity has become a matter of the individuals choice.
Hobswarm argues that most identities are like shirts we choose to wear rather than a skin we are born with so rather than one dominant culture we now have an array of cultures and lifestyles to choose from.

Question 11

stigma

Answer 11

prejudice attached to an identity or group of people.