Exam 2 Study Review Flashcards
Who developed the dramaturgical approach?
What metaphor does it use to characterize social life?
Erving Goffman (1922-82)
Social life is a dramatic performance
it is argued that the elements of human interactions are dependent upon time, place, and audience
How is the dramaturgical approach illustrated by the “Popping the Question” study?
Be sure to understand the study’s main findings.
The interaction of this event is depended on time, place and audience; it is a performance.
Mans performance for the woman; couples performance for family and friends.
What is impression management?
Craft of presenting a favorable image of oneself to others.
What do people do when they are failing to successfully manage their impressions?
they attempt to correct the bad impression.
Explain and illustrate how impression management of self, situation and performance team are connected.
Impression management of my self (who I am?), the situation (what is going on?) and my performance team are connected (the people staging a performance)
ex. )
1. The man is worthy of a finance (who am I?)
2. This is an engagement proposal (what is going on?)
3. The couple ought to be married (performance team)
What is an aligning action?
Action taken to restore an identity that has been damaged
Front Stage (Define and example)
Area of social interaction visible to the audience, where people perform
ex. ) On stage of a play or musical
ex. ) The woman acts as a member of the audience (front stage)
Back stage (define and example)
Area of social interaction not visible to the audience, where people can rehearse and rehash their performances
ex. ) Backstage of play or musical
ex. ) the woman acts a member of the performance team (back stage) for proposal.
Performance Team (define and examples)
Group of people who cooperate in staging a performance
ex.) Orchestra, dance team, members of a play
Impression given (define and example)
Verbal expression (impressions given)
-should be consistent with nonverbal expression (impression given off)
Props and costumes should be consistent with performance
impression give off (define and example)
nonverbal expression (impressions given off)
-should be consistent with Verbal expression (impressions given)
Props and costumes should be consistent with performance
What is a protective practice?
Actions taken to help another person restore or maintain a desired identity
Civil Inattention (define and example)
Practice of signaling mutual awareness and then withdrawing attention
ex.) Walking passed someone on the street and not saying anything; getting out of each other way.
acknowledging another persons presence, but the shared nonverbal communication that there is no desire to be hostile, or have any direct communication.
Studied nonobservance (define and example)
Practice of ignoring flaws in another’s performance to avoid embarrassment for everyone involved
ex.) a child is yelling and screaming at her mother in public and you chose to not interfere and ignore it so you do not embarrass the mother.
Cooling out the mark (define and example)
Gently persuading someone who has lost face to accept a less desirable but still reasonable alternative identity.
ex.) someone who wanted to go D1 for football but only got into a ju-co school; you would try to redirect their goals and make them feel like its okay.
Accounts (define and example)
Statement designed to explain unanticipated, embarrassing, or unacceptable behavior after the behavior has occurred
ex.) When the teacher explains something that has happened on the test that was not intended to be on the test
Disclaimers (define and example)
Assertion designed to forestall any complaints or negative reactions to a behavior or statement that is about to occur
ex.) Before telling the class some bad news, the teacher warns then that they will be disappointed and to take the negativeness somewhere else.
How can the mismanagement of impressions lead to interpersonal violence?
When people believe they are failing to give off the desired impression, they attempt to repair the bad impression…
…In some situations, this can result to interpersonal violence
The impressions that are defended by violence are often connected to masculine identities.
Describe and explain David Luckenbill’s study of criminal homicide?
he asked, “How can failure to manage impressions lead to interpersonal violence (in initially nonviolent, noncriminal situations)?”
What research method did David Luckenbill use in the study of criminal homicide?
Method: examination of police records in 70 homicides
What were David Luckenbill’s findings in the study if criminal homicide?
Finding: homicides typically result from two individuals attempting to control undesired impressions (“save face”)
-People kill to defend desired social statuses
What were the six steps in a homicidal interaction he identified?
How was the audience of these interactions important in defining the situation?
Step 1: offense to "face" Step 2: interpretation of offense Step 3: countermove to "safe face" Step 4: forging agreement to battle Step 5: The battle Step 6: aftermath
Explain Jack Katz’s argument about how stickups may become fatal.
How is impression management involved?
Jack Katz’s (1988) analysis of homicide during stick-up found that stick-ups may become fatal as offender, in face of opposition, defends definition of situation as stick-up and his identity as a “hard man”
stickup men must adopt a characteristic hardness of will and insist on being criminal
Name and describe the three stages of stick-up? ?
Stage 1: Gaining a subjective advantage a.) (or “angle” over the victim) --- Stage 2: Declaration a.) Unlike most crimes, the stickup man must declare his intention to commit a crime, e.g.,“This is a stickup!”
b. )The stickup man must commit himself wholeheartedly—he must announce publicly and clearly that he is trying to commit a crime
c. ) The declaration suddenly transforms the situation into a crime
Stage 3: Sticking beyond reason with stickup
a.) Stickup can’t be understood through cost-benefit analysis, i.e., it may seem “irrational”
b.) Stickup requires moral indifference to
the consequences of the crime and to the victim
c. ) “Irrational” violence may enhance the stickup man’s reputation with his confederates (audience)
d. )“Irrational” violence is necessary if the stickup man can continue thinking of himself as a “hard man” (self)
What are the benefits of “irrational“ violence for stickup artists
“Irrational” violence may enhance the stickup man’s reputation with his confederates (audience)
“Irrational” violence is necessary if the stickup man can continue thinking of himself as a “hard man” (self)
How did Lonnie Athens conduct his research?
What did he find?
He studied violent criminals through in- depth interviews with prisoners.
Athens claims that violence results from the interaction between selves and interpretations of situations
What was his claim about how violence results from the interaction between selves and interpretations of situations?
People with nonviolent selves (self-images) will kill only in “physically defensive situations”
People with violent selves (self-images) may kill in situations in which another person poses an obstacle to their goals and/or they form extremely negative impressions of the other person
What are the four stages in the creation of violent selves?
- Brutalization
- being violently subjugated, observing others being violently subjugated, being coached in violence - Belligerency
- reaching the decision that they need to start using violence themselves - Violent performance
- Virulency
- If the first violent performance results in victory, person’s self is defined as violent by others and then (potentially) himself
Define and explain material culture.
artifacts of some group of people (clothing, buildings, inventions, food, artwork, writings, etc.)
Material culture both reflects and shapes nonmaterial culture
Explain James Loewen’s distinction between the past and history.
The “past” (things that happened) is often quite different than “history” (what we say about them).
The past can’t be changed
History is always changing; people construct and reconstruct it
Loewen presents a number of biases found in historical monuments, such as:
(1) presenting a favorable picture of local communities
(2) under-representing women
(3) being Eastern- centric
(4) presenting a favorable image of slavery
(5) promoting stereotypes about American Indians and justifying whites conquering them.
Understand each of these and be able to illustrate them with examples for lecture.
Presenting a Favorable Picture of Local Communities:
–Monuments are usually proposed by local organizations and present favorable (and sometimes inaccurate) picture of their communities
Under-repusenting Women:
- -Only 3% of national historical markers in U.S. focus on women
- -Women are often overlooked when they make history with their husbands
- -The Levi Coffin House, an important underground railroad station, was the home of Levi & Catherine Coffin
Eastern-centric:
- -American history tends to focus on English Protestants who settled East Coast at expense of American Indians and Spanish settlers
- -Socorro Mission in Socorro,TX, founded in 1682
- -Rehoboth Church in Union, WV, “oldest church building west of the Allegheny Mountains,” built in 1789
Presenting a Favorable Image of Slavery:
–Monuments throughout the South honor slaves who were loyal to the Confederacy
–In fact, most slaves stopped working, fled, joined the Union Army and/or engaged in espionage
–No monuments in South honor local blacks in Union Army
–Intent of monuments is to present slavery as benign
institution that had support of slaves
Promoting Stereotypes about American Indians and Justifying Whites Conquering them:
- -White-built monuments to Indians tend to justify conquering Indians by:
- Honoring Indians who helped whites (“Tonto figure”)
- Honoring Indian tribes who are no longer there
- Honoring Indians as “vanishing race” (as by Red Men)
Give examples of how beliefs about race and gender influence history.
Women and minority races are less likely to be recognized.
Who is Nathan Bedford Forrest? What is his significance?
He is a confederate cavalry leader and he has more statues in Tennessee than any other state has honoring a single person.
-Most Forrest monuments erected during Jim Crow era
- Forrest is symbol of white supremacy
- First national leader of KKK
- Slave trader before war, hired black convict labor after war
- Led massacres of black soldiers during war
X What does it mean that historical monuments tell the tale of two eras?
- Era of person or event honored
2. Era when monument was erected
X What is snowplow revisionism?
*Attempting to revise markers may meet with resistance
X What is the significance and motto of Cawker City’s ball of twine?
*the twine ball’s motto is “Thrift + Patience = Success”
Even bizarre attractions may reflect norms & values
Be familiar with the monuments discussed in the lecture. There will be exam questions about some of them.
GO TAKE NOTES ON THIS .
What is the difference between a “common-sense” view of emotions and a sociological view?
Common-sense belief: Our emotions represent our “true” self, not social rules
The sociology of emotions studies how culture shapes the way we feel
Define feeling rules, emotion management (a.k.a. emotion work) and emotive dissonance.
Who coined these terms and what was she studying when she developed these concepts? Understand the examples of these used in class.
Feeling Rules: Norms for how people are supposed to feel in particular situations
Emotion Management: people’s efforts to make their emotions match feeling rules
Emotive Dissonance: the disconnect between how people feel and how they think they should feel
–Arlie Hochschild studied stewardesses for her book on emotion management
List and understand the four types of emotion management discussed in lecture.
Deep acting: Type of emotion management that focuses on actually bringing about desired emotions
Emotion evocation: Type of emotion management that involves bringing about a desired emotion.
Emotion suppression: Type of emotion management that involves stifling an undesired emotion.
Surface acting: Type of emotion management that focuses on the outward presentation of emotion.
Define emotional socialization.
learning feeling rules and how to achieve them through emotion management
Describe Smith and Kleinman’s study of emotional socialization of medical students, including its research methods and findings.
Medical students were studied to see how they interact with their patients in uncomfortable settings. They examined how they were around certain peoples body parts and how they were able to control their arousal/uncomfortableness.
Research Method: participant observation, interviews
Physicians ideally are encouraged to feel moderate sympathy toward patients, but excessive concern and all feelings based on the patient’s or the physician’s individuality are proscribed
Medical students must deal with their feelings as they make contact with patients’ bodies
How do the concepts of “pride” and “self-esteem” illustrate the social construction of emotions?
Pride (superbia): First and most serious of the seven deadly sins; led to Lucifer’s rebellion against God
Self-esteem: basic human need required for healthy self development
How does the concept of “closure” illustrate the social construction of emotions?
“Closure” is an emotional state—where grief has “closed”—that people want for themselves and others
People may have always felt grief and wanted it to stop, but “closure” is a new way of thinking about and acting on this grief
What are the implications of the concept of closure that were discussed in class?
There is no agreement about what closure is or how to achieve it, (e.g., does closure involve forgetting or remembering?)
Attempting but failing to achieve closure may result in emotive dissonance, (i.e., closure may offer a false promise of healing)
Closure may be used to sell people unnecessary products
Closure may displace other useful ways of dealing with loss
Define social control.
Various methods society uses to encourage conformity to its norms or punish nonconformity
What is the connection between social control and the course theme?
Social control is stating that there is good and bad things that society does, and the course theme states that whatever good or bad thing is done, society caused it and society will face the consequence.
- What is the sociological perspective on deviance?
- What is the origin on the term?
- Why did sociologists begin using it?
- By defining what is normal, society defines
what is deviant - Origin of term is in statistics—“deviation” is
the difference between the value of a given case and the group average - Sociologists began using “deviance” in 1950s to encompass four major topics—crime and delinquency, mental illness, drug use/addiction, sexual misbehavior
Define and explain internal social control.
People’s own attempts to conform to norms.
–Social arrangements make some things easier to do and others more difficult; people often follow the path of least resistance
–People may believe that (certain) norms are good, fair, moral, etc.
–People may follow norms because they anticipate other people’s reactions (e.g., through internal conversation)
Define formal social control.
Official forms of social control, like fines, imprisonment and execution.
Define informal social control.
Unofficial forms of social control, like gossip, humiliation and ostracism.
Define deviance.
Behavior, belief, or condition that violates norms.
How has closure been used to sell products and make political arguments about the death penalty? (17)
Selling closure is a way for funeral directors to justify and promote their services
Closure is also used to sell products for pet deaths, break-ups, divorces
Competing claims are made about which products best provide closure
List and describe the five strategies the medical students used to manage their emotions. (17)
- Transforming the Contact: mentally transforming the patients into something less personal
- Accentuating the Positive: focusing on the excitement of practicing “real medicine,” satisfaction of learning, pride of living up to medical ideals
- Using the Patient: either empathizing with the patient or blaming the patient
- Laughing about it: finding humor in uncomfortable situations
- Avoiding the contact (that results in unwanted emotions)
Explain the three approaches to deviance described in class (causation, labeling, conflict).
Causation approach: Why do people commit deviant acts?
Labeling theory: Why are some people labeled as deviant and what are effects of label?
Conflict approach: How do rules and punishments benefit some groups more than others?
What is labeling theory?
Society creates deviance by constructing norms
Society constructs deviants by applying labels to people
Labeling theory focuses on the application of deviant labels and the effects of that labeling
Describe William Chambliss’ “The Saints and the Roughnecks” study.
What method did he use?
What did he find?
Why were the two sets of boys treated differently?
How do the findings illustrate labeling theory?
Description: Shows importance of labeling for understanding deviance and role of class in assigning labels. Two groups of boys were observed on how they were treated differently by police.
Method: Participant observation study
Findings: Saints and the Roughnecks were equally as bad, but the saints were on better terms with the police because they were apologetic.
Why were thy treated differently?
1. Visibility: Saints owned their own cars and were able to leave town
- Demeanor: Saints were apologetic and penitent; Roughnecks hostile and disdainful.
- -The delinquent label reinforced the Roughneck’s delinquency
- -Predictions about boys’ futures were correct —they were self-fulfilling prophecies
What are primary and secondary deviance?
Primary deviance: Routine instances of
norm violation that may or may not result in labeling.
Secondary deviance: Secondary deviance: deviance following and resulting from the label.
