Erving Goffman
Status and Roles
These two terms are so linked together that in if they don’t flow
are follow the pattern of one another it will result in an act of deviance or
embarrassment.
Goffman focused on status and roles with in a society and how it
interacts with an individual. Goffman looks at status and roles as two
different things: status being a particular social position that an individual
may hold and roles being the behavior that is expected of a particular status.
For Example:
Status: Doctor
Role: we would expect doctors to be caring, helpful,
knowledgeable, and accountable, honest, etc. We don’t expected doctors to be
dishonest, harmful because society gives them expectations because of their
high ranking.
Goffman also looks as self-labeling and the power of audience on
these statuses and roles.
Self-labeling: is an identity that one presents to others in an
attempt to manage their impression of him or herself.
Power of Audience: the reaction of the audience (community, peers,
and coworkers) can reflect or direct how one may act or finish presenting
themselves.
For Example: Stand-up Comedian
A Stand-up-Comedian relies on his audience as a part of his act.
If his audience reacts negatively to something he or she will steer clear of
that topic and begin on a new one. If he or she get a good reaction (laughter)
out of the audience then they may continue with that topic. There act is revolved
all around the power of the audience.
The audience members are expectation of what they want to hear or
see and if the comedian does not meet their expectations than the audience will
fill in the rest with what they want (reaction).
If the comedian fails to meet the expectations of the audience
this results in power of audience. The comedian did not fit his status and
therefore did not fulfill his role expectations the audience had resulting in embarrassment.
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