Week 2 - Goffman... again

This week we discussed Goffman’s idea of dramaturgy. Goffman borrowed this term from theatre and applied it to social interactionism as a metaphor for describing everyday life as a performance with actors, a setting and an audience. The article I looked at this week called The Power of Peers: Why Some Students Bully Others to Conform by Burns & al. uses Goffman’s dramaturgical metaphor to analyse why bullying occurs. I’ll give you a quick summary of the articles findings with Goffman in mind. In the circumstance of bullying, the bully and/or the victim is the actor, the bystanders are the audience and school is the setting. It is explained that each of these attributes contribute to and can modify the performance. The bully is concerned with presenting a specific self and will modify his or her performance based on the reaction of the audience to maintain their desired image of self. This is also true of the victim as the actor. Goffman’s theory suggests that each of these situational factors and integrated performances of self act to control what happens in an interaction. For example, if there are bystanders present to watch the bullying interaction and form an audience then the victim, as an actor, will react to the bullying in a certain way in attempt to maintain their presentation of self in front of the audience. This modified behaviour will consequently affect the bully’s behaviour. All of these factors work to control the interaction. The article also explains school bullying in terms of Goffman’s front-stage and back-stage. The actual act of bullying is described as a front-stage performance. However, the feelings of superiority, popularity and power exhibited in the front-stage may not translate to the back-stage.

The overall study and analysis in the article is quite interesting and I would recommend giving it a quick read. If you do, don’t hesitate to leave a comment and let me know what you think!      

Reference:

Brown, G, Burns, S, Cross, D, Maycock, B 2008, 'The power of peers: Why some students bully others to conform', Qualitative Health Research, 18, 12, 1704-1716, 30/08/2012,
http://icbtt.arizona.edu/sites/default/files/The%20Power%20of%20Peers-%20Why%20Some%20Students%20Bully%20Others%20to%20Conform.pdf

Week 1 - Goffman

This week we discussed Erving Goffman and his ideas about presentation of self. If you're not a Goffman fan, his ideas might seem a little confusing but a lecture, tutorial, presentation and 50 long pages later and hopefully we've all got a pretty good idea. For anyone out there wondering like I am, how this all applies to us nowadays, I've read and attached a link to a relevant article called The Presentation of Self in Electronic Life: Goffman on the Internet written by Hugh Miller.

Miller notes that presenting ones self through electronic communication, or EC as he calls it, changes what Goffman labels the 'framing' of the interaction altogether. By communicating over the web via email or facebook for example, there is no situational context or references available to us. He also notes that embarrassment, what Goffman considers the most important motivator of presenting ones self, changes in online interactions. It is easier to establish contact over the Internet and it is usually done so without even the thought or worry about rejection. You are also saved from others' initial reactions and judgements because what you receive is a thought out and edited version of what you would get in person. Goffman would also argue that EC is much more limited and is less rich than interaction in person.

However, there is one similarity between the two forms of interaction that Miller points out: both instances of presentation of self depend on the recipient's interpretation. In person, they can choose not to listen, not to make eye contact, or they can just interpret something you say much differently than what you intended. Over EC Miller notes, "lots of images can be included, but the receiver can always choose not to receive them, and may not have a system which is able to receive them".

The gist of the article is that while electronic communication changes nearly every aspect of Goffman's presentation of self, it is a growing and adapting form of communication that some argue is making its own rules of self presentation.

Anyways, I'm well out of words but I hope this helped you relate to Goffman a little better, feel free to comment and let me know what you think!

Reference:

Miller, H 1995, 'The presentation of self in electronic life: Goffman on the internet', 23/08/2012.
http://www.dourish.com/classes/ics234cw04/miller2.pdf