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Erving Goffman (SOC2) - Coggle Diagram
Erving Goffman (SOC2)
About
pioneer of micro-sociology, or the close examination of the social interactions that compose everyday life
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his studies are "comparative, qualitative sociology that is aimed to produce generalisations about human behaviour"
Symbolic interactionism
definition: refers to the peculiar and distinctive character of interaction as it takes place between human beings
referring to social interactions as a cycle of events and every step corresponds to a certain stimulus/reaction
meanings assigned to a certain symbol and these symbols are used in a sense as for the other to understand their significance
these symbols need to be viewed by the other individual in the same light as the person they are talking to
e.g. gun symbol often associated w violence, but others may associate different feelings to it; for a terrorist, it is a means to spread terrorism, for a child its a toy
the interaction of humans is mediated by the use of symbols by either interpreting or ascertaining the other person's reaction
as people grow because of these interactions, they learn to interpret and analyse these symbols in a more informative way
life as a drama
Goffman saw the men and women of the world as part of a drama, playing specific roles
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'roles' constructed with society in mind, so interactions are very 'unscripted' which leads to successful human interactions in society
the roles would enable a person to portray oneself in a light which was 'true' but 'developing' and at the end of the drama, one would present their true self
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Criticisms
Most significant critique: Goffman had interactions with a limited number of people and leaned towards a very subjective research methodology