Goffman

I.The interaction or public order

   A. One of many orders

      1. thus Goffman,unlike Blumer, believes inmacro-level social phenomena which cannot be explained by micro-level socialprocesses

         a.stratification, markets, economic growth

         b.“loose coupling” between micro and macro levels

B.Goffman is concerned with the rules of conduct in public and semi=public places

1.All sectors of social life are regulated by moral norms

a.the norms regulate how individuals are to pursue personal objectives (ends)

b.thus similar to Durkheim

3.the rules of conduct are considered politeness rules or rules of etiquette

4.They govern what is appropriate behavior in the public order

a.how people conduct themselves in face-to-face interaction in public and semi-publicplaces

b.any type of person can enter into the public order--strangers, acquaintances, intimates

c.people generally attempt to “fit in” by not attracting undue attention to themselves

d.thus people are expected to show respect for the situation they are in

5.Rules of public order are like traffic rules

a.they don’t define the objectives

b.they provide the pathways on how to achieve them

c.creates an order so that all can achieve objectives

II. Presentation of Self

A.Two levels of communication

1.expressions given

a.what we say

b.taken to be intended

2.expressions given off

a.how we say it, how we appear, facial gestures, etc.

b.taken to be unintended since person is often unaware of them

3.as each person communicates to each other they develop a definition of the situation

a.an agreement about what issues will be temporarily honored

b.each person thus has a demeanor that deserves deference

i.demeanor—presenting oneself as having identifiable characteristics

ii.deference—deserving of a particular kind of treatment

-thus others help to maintain the person’s self

-known as tact

B.Impression management—how a person through a performance attempts to controlthe impressions others form about him

1.personal front is the demeanor of the actor

a.what his appearance communicates to others

b.clothes, appearance (age, sex, posture, racial features, size), speech pattern,facial expression and bodily gestures

2.stage props

3.we try to present ourselves as someone worthy of respect from others

a.we want to come off as “normal”

b.otherwise we are stigmatized

4.thus we try to control the information others have about us

a.we don’t tell others everything we have done we are ashamed of

b.our “real self” is irrelevant for interaction

c.we all try to pass as normal

5.we are different people with different audiences

a.creates a problem of audience contagion

b.solution is to keep audiences segregated

6,thus the self is an interactional construct based on the information we let outabout ourselves and the information that the audience possesses

a.if consistent, then performance is credible and self accepted

b.if inconsistent, then performance is eyed suspiciously

c.problem: self is like a card game

C.Front and back regions

1.front region – where performances occur

2.back region – where we don’t need to engage in impression management

a.we can be “ourselves”

b.but unless alone, doesn’t the back region become a front region for a differentaudience?

D.Conditions of copresence

1.proximity--each party must be close enough to be perceived by the other (perceptualrange)

2.Types of copresence

a.gathering--any set of individuals who are momentarily in each other’s presence

b.situation--the physical space that is used for a gathering

c.social occasion

i.a social affair occurring at a particular place and time

ii.has a formal or intended theme known usually in advance

iii.social occasions have a beginning and an end

iv.different people have different parts or roles

v.has an involvement which is the main activity

vi.an involvement contour--how involvement in the main activity varies as theoccasion goes from beginning to end

a.rush times versus down times

b.football game --builds as it approaches game time, sustain more or less    during play, down for half time,back up for second half

vii.negative sanctions for improper conduct

vIII.thus there is an ethos that is created that we get caught up in sometimes regardlessof our personal feelings

3.. gatherings occur in situations which occur in social occasions

4.thus same situation may be defined differently for different persons

a.thus multiple realities can exist

b.photographers at a wedding--”work” during a “sacred ceremony and celebration”

E.Types of interaction in gatherings

1.unfocused--the momentary reception of information as one person passes another

2.focused--the cooperative effort to sustain a single focus of attention

F.Code of situational propriety

1.each participant is expected to show proper respect for others and to maintaina proper level of interest in every situation

a.thus each person must demonstrate “situational presences” as opposed to “beingaway”

b.this requires management of personal appearances or “front”

i.thus we are constantly required while in the presence of others to control ourselves

ii.this requires control of both linguistic and expressive communications

G.Deference and demeanor

II. Hochschild – Emotional Labor

A.in The Managed Heart Hochschild examines airline attendants and bill collectors

1.emotional labor—management of feeling to create a visible and/or heard emotionaldisplay in return for money

2.3 characteristics of jobs calling for emotional labor

a.the worker must have face-to-face or voice-to-voice contact with the public

b.the worker is required to produce an emotional response in the other

c.the employer is allowed to exercise a degree of control over the emotional activitiesof employees

3.thus airline attendants are taught emotional labor techniques to quiet andplease problem customers

a.example: taught to act towards customers as if they were a child

b.surface and deep acting

         i.taught to deep act

ii.to think back to occasions that they dealt with a child and to remember and acton those emotions

iii.thus there was a correspondence between felt emotion and expressed emotion

c.eventually burn-out would occur and the attendant to surface act and paste an insinceresmile on their face

4.Problem: attendants started to lose touch of their true inner feelings

a.due to emotive dissonance

b.caused by difference between what we feel and what we feign to feel

c.strain reduced by changing what we feel or by changing what we feign

d.employers help make the decision and thus we change what we feel