Lecture 19 Flashcards
What does it mean to be deviant for Goffman?
Within this tradition, being deviant is a social status. The deviant status of the individual only makes sense in a social situation. A person on a deserted island cannot be deviant.
How is deviance relative for Goffman?
What’s deviant in one place may not be deviant in another place.
Goffman
Goffman was a sociologist who was one of the most famous and influential sociologists in the world. Basis of his work is in Shakespeare. All the world is a stage, and all men and women are players. We all wear certain masks. Most of those masks are of other people. Control and stage how we appear to others. We try to present ourselves in the best light possible. Like actors, we play a range of different parts depending on the situation we take ourselves to be in. Work vs. home vs. school vs. bachelor party.
Whose ideas was Goffman’s work based off of?
Shakespeare.
Interpretive Theories
Emphasize the social meanings that emerge from interactions, and the subsequent interpretations individuals have about acts, characteristics, or people.
Deviance as a social status can be ascribed. What does this mean:
A status that is assigned to us. We are not involved in this process.
Examples of ascribed deviance:
Sex, race, initial social class, or some other inherited or innate characteristic such as being born deaf or blind.
Examples of achieved deviance:
Being a high school dropout, a liar, a cheater, an abusive parent, or a criminal.
Status Set
We all have a wide variety of statuses both ascribed and achieved. Determines who we are. Most include deviant and conforming statuses.
True or false? Interpretive theories are objective.
False, they are subjective.
More often than not, deviance is an ascribed status. True or false?
False. More often than not, deviance is an achieved status. Normally, to be deviant, we must have committed some act willingly that violated a norm.
What are some examples of ascribed deviance?
- Born into religious cult.
- Born as specific facial or ethnic group.
Master Status
When one status overpowers all other statuses.
Once a master status is established, virtually everything that individual does from that point on is…
Interpreted in reference to that status.
Give an example of how master statuses could be bad:
OJ Simpson’s master status was a Heisman Trophy winner and one of the greatest running backs in NCAA history. Shortly thereafter he became known as one of the greatest running backs of all time. Then he became a Hall of Famer. Then he became the man who murdered his wife and her friend.
Role
A set of expectations that are associated with that particular status. Tells us what to do, or what we should do.
Like any other status, deviance is accompanied by a ___.
Role.
Explain status and role in the context of a play:
The status of being deviant is the part for which we are cast, and the role is the way we play that particular part.
Explain status and role in the context of a student:
We expect someone with the status student to fulfill certain roles. Attend class, take exams, do other things associated with being a student. Status is student, and role is what you do as a student.
Give an example of role and status expectations:
When Jeffrey Dahmer entered a courtroom, many Americans could not believe he could possibly be the deviant who lured gay men back to his residence, killed them, had sex with their corpses, mutilated them, froze their body parts, and cooked them as part of a meal. He did not look the part. Different response with Charles Manson. Very few people doubted his guilt.
Role Set
Different roles that accompany statuses.
Role-Taking
Role-taking is the process of adopting and fulfilling the expectations associated with the particular status.
When people in a particular status fulfil role expectations, they are said to…
Embrace the role.
Role-Embracement
When a person’s sense of identity is influenced by the role.
