Preview

Erving Goffman's Influence On The Sociology Of Education

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1776 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Erving Goffman's Influence On The Sociology Of Education
Erving Goffman, a prominent Canadian-American sociologist, is considered one of the most influential sociologists of the twentieth century. He has coined and created numerous terms and concepts that have had a great influence on the discipline of sociology and what it has become today. He focus was on the actual social environment and physical interaction of individuals that shapes their views of self. Many of his concepts were created out of his own research and observations that he would make well working in the sociology field.
After Goffman finished getting his doctorate in 1953 he went to work as a visiting scientist at the National Institute of Mental Health . Well there, he spend time at a mental institution, St. Elizabeth’s Hospital
…show more content…
What makes this a key feature of a total institution is the fact that it breaks down the barriers between work, play and sleep by managing all aspects of life in the same place. Although a person may sleep and eat in one place, it is unlikely that all of the activities that they do everyday are going to be at he same facility and under the watchful eye of an authoritative power. It is also very unlikely that a person outside of a total institution is going to be monitored by a single …show more content…
Upon entering a total institution, that individual is immediately stripped of all self-identifying support that they gained from the outside world. Upon arrival, an individual goes through a process that Goffman describes as a series of abasements, degradations, humiliations, and profanations of self, and they are often systematically mortified (Goffman, 1961). The barrier that the institution puts in place between the individual and the outer world is one restriction of self that the individual looses. This can lead into role dispossession. Many institutions initial withhold visitation rights, in order to ensure that the individual has a clean break from past roles. This causes the inmate to continue to loose more sense of self because they are no longer associated with the roles that they once had outside of the total

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    Phase one is the “getting ready” phase. This phase begins the day the prisoner enters the prison. It starts at the reception center with a comprehensive assessment of each prisoner’s risk factors, needs and strengths. A Transition Accountability Plan is formed to determine the services the prisoner will need to prepare them for life after prison. This plan also establishes a set of expectations for the prisoner and how well they adhere to the plan weighs heavily in decisions made by the Parole and Commutation Board. Phase two is the “going home” phase. This phase begins about two months before the prisoners expected release date. During this phase, prisoners identified as needing more intensive preparation and support are transferred to an “in-reach” center, a prison closer to home. This helps set the stage for a smooth and successful transition. The focus during this phase is also to help the prisoner find work and become “employable” as well as setting up stable housing. Depending on their needs, prisoners are linked with community services such as substance abuse treatment, mental health services, or sex offender therapy. The conventional role of a parole officer is transformed to a case manager in an effort to help the transition team get a support system in place. When the parole date arrives the prisoner is armed with a structure and support network in place to help them succeed. Lastly, phase three is called the “staying home” phase. As opposed to a decade ago where parolees were released on a Friday and had a weekend or more to get into trouble before their first meeting with their parole agent, they are now released earlier in the week and they promptly meet with their parole agent and service providers. This first meeting is used to establish job leads, assist with resumes, ensure medical assistance if needed and identify stable housing.…

    • 1314 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Institutions can have positive and negative effects that can alter an individual's perceptions, judgment and values, as shown in the Book raw by scott monk, the yetta prison poem and the ‘reliving the Horror’. The way they are treated in the institutions may either change them into a better person or have great consequences that may effect the individual for the rest of their life.…

    • 286 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In my ethnographic study, I apply theoretical concepts developed by Erving Goffman in The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life to the behavior of employees in the retail department store, Macy’s. Goffman (1959) argues that social interactions in everyday life can be understood as presentations between performers and audiences. Within social establishments, he suggests four analytical frameworks may govern how performers stage their “characters” including the technical, political, structural and cultural; he also argues that the aforementioned perspectives are situation-specific and thus can also be analyzed within a broader dramaturgical framework (Goffman 1959). The task of this…

    • 1682 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The United States prison system is notorious for the way it treats its inmates. There are so many theories, and facts to back up the claim that the prison system is not working the way it was intended to be, and it continues to be a growing issue that the government is not addressing. Further, within the already complicated prison system, there is another issue. Solitary confinement, which was originally supposed to be used as a short term punishment within prisons, or jails, has now become an integrated part of prison life (Edge, 2014). Solitary Nation, is 2014 documentary highlights the damages that solitary confinement is doing to people (Edge, 2014). Individuals whom have not shown any signs of degrading mental health come out of segregation, or as the inmates call it, “seg,” disturbed (Edge, 2014).…

    • 476 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The reader will hear from current and former prisoners’ that explain their experiences. They discuss behavior, trouble they encountered, and their state of mind when they were free in society before heading down the wrong path. Their testimony is to educate readers on how…

    • 188 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Erving Goffman was born on the 11th June 1922 in Mannville, Canada. In 1939, Goffman enrolled at the University of Manitoba where he pursued an undergraduate degree in chemistry; however he then took an interest for sociology while working temporarily at the National Film Board in Ottawa. This was the motivation that he then needed to go on and enrol at the University of Toronto where he studied anthropology and sociology, then after graduating with a degree he began a masters in sociology at the University of Chicago, which was one of the centres’ of sociological research in the United States. In the decade from 1959-1969 Goffman published seven significant books, this was a remarkable achievement, and so has been considered as the most influential sociologist of the twentieth century. The focus of his work was the organisation of observable, everyday behaviour, usually but not always among unacquainted in urban settings. He used a variety of qualitative methods; he then developed classifications of the different elements of social interaction. The assumption of this approach was that these classifications were heuristic, simplifying tools for sociological analysis that did not capture the complexity of lived experience. Goffman was heavily influenced by George Mead and Herbert Blumer in his theoretical framework, and went on to pioneer the study of face-to-face interaction, elaborate the “dramaturgical approach” to human interaction, and develop numerous concepts that would have massive influence.…

    • 2737 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Best Essays

    The term “reentry’” is a synonym for return and is defined as the act of going back to a prior place, location, situation or setting. Prison re-entry refers to the transition of offenders from prisons or jails back into the community. The concept of life in society is an important part of any reintegration of institutionalized people, including people who have been incarcerated for committing a crime. The institutionalization of a population leads to isolation, segregation and detachment of the elements…

    • 2712 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    The film Prison State shows how self issues have become very dominant within these facilities, some individuals incarcerated for minor behavioral issues and those who may be harmful to society are still roaming the streets. In addition, some of these facilities don’t have the space to keep these individuals. Therefore…

    • 957 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Justice

    • 327 Words
    • 2 Pages

    1. Describe Goffman’s “moral career of the mental patient” through its three phases. How is the patient’s self-identity thus gradually redefined in the context of the hospital as a total institution.…

    • 327 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    There is a distinct amount of similarities of Erving Goffman and Anthony Giddens representations of social action, on the other hand there includes difference as well. Two differences which stood out are the reflexibility and the front stage example from Goffman and the self-regulation process on micro-sociological viewpoints. In the example given by Erving Goffman, people are present in face-to-face interactions, but they are not fully aware of their actions at that moment. After the moment of attention seeking is over they are faced to process the actions. The difference is that Anthony Giddens explains that the actors have the ability using the time-and-space by science to reorganize the actions.…

    • 271 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In most cases the isolated individual is deprived of any form of interaction with fellow prisoners, and sometimes with family and friends through restrictions on visits. Social learning theories highlight the importance of social contact with others not just for pleasure and play but for the individual’s very sense of ‘self’ which is shaped and maintained through social interactions. Social contact is crucial for forming perceptions, concepts, interpreting reality and providing support. Deprived of meaningful and sympathetic social contact and interaction with others, the prisoner in solitary confinement may withdraw and regress. Even when isolated prisoners do not show any obvious symptoms, upon release from isolation they can become uncomfortable in social situations and avoid them, with negative consequences for subsequent social functioning in both the prison community and the outside community, again undermining the likelihood of successful resettlement” - Haney, Craig.…

    • 853 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The New Asylum

    • 1183 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Frontline episode “The New Asylums”, dove into the crisis mentally ill inmates face in the psychiatric ward in Ohio state prisons. The episode shows us the conditions and every day lives of mentally ill patients in Ohio state prisons, and explains how these inmates got to this point. It appeared that most of these prisoners should have been patients in an institute of some sort, out in society, but unfortunately due to whatever circumstances they ended up in prison. According to the episode, most of the inmates end up in prison due to them not coping with the outside world on their own. Prior to becoming imprisoned, the inmates had difficulties dealing with the outside world. Mainly due to lack of necessary psychiatric treatment, the soon to be inmates would get arrested for things such as violent behavior, robbery, and rape. This behavior would cause them to go to jail, and after repeated offenses they end up falling into prison.…

    • 1183 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Travis, J., & Visher, A. C. (2003). [Transitions from Prison to Community: Understanding Individual Pathways]. Annual Review of Sociology, 29, 89.…

    • 4857 Words
    • 20 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Criminal Justice

    • 1720 Words
    • 7 Pages

    References: Frisch, Patricia, PhD, and Alan Emery. "Eight Years inside San Quentin." Inmate Counseling. Psychodynamic Articles, 14 Dec. 2005. Web. 14 May 2013.…

    • 1720 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Solitary Definition

    • 617 Words
    • 3 Pages

    He asserts that solitary confinement is in no way used for reformation, but rather for management and bringing to subjugation a few prisoners. Using a long string of statistics based off extensive research, he shows that not only is solitary confinement detrimental to the mental health of the prisoner, but is directly correlated to the chances of committing additional crimes once released to the public.…

    • 617 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays