Search results for ""Author Erving Goffman""

One of most influential social scientist of the twentieth century examines the meaning of the asylum'Psychiatric staff share with policemen the peculiar occupational task of hectoring and moralizing adults'This groundbreaking work of social science explores life in 'total institutions': the closed, regimented systems of prisons, boarding schools, nursing homes and, most importantly, mental hospitals, which cut individuals off from society. Focusing on the relationship between an inmate and the institution that contains them, Goffman unpicks how lives are managed 'on the inside', the loss of selfhood experienced by those held there, and the ways in which they try to regain their identities.'One of the most distinguished and provocative of social scientists' The Times

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Forms of Talk extends Erving Goffman's interactional analyses of face-to-face communication to ordinary conversations and vebal exchanges. In this, his most sociolinguistic work, Goffman relates to certain forms of talk some of the issues that concerned him in his work on frame analysis. This book brings together five of Goffman's essays: "Replies and Responses," "Response Cries," "Footing," "The Lecture," and "Radio Talk." Of lasting value in Goffman's work is his insistence that behavior—verbal or nonverbal—be examined along with the context of that behavior. In all of these classic essays, there is a "topic" at hand for discussion and analysis. In addition, as those familiar with Goffman's work have come to expect, there is the wider context in which the topic can be viewed and related to other topics—a characteristic move of Goffman's that has made his work so necessary for students of interaction in many disciplines.

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The two essays in this classic work by sociologist Erving Goffman deal with the calculative, gamelike aspects of human interaction. Goffman examines the strategy of words and deeds; he uses the term "strategic interaction" to describe gamelike events in which an individual's situation is fully dependent on the move of one's opponent and in which both players know this and have the wit to use this awareness for advantage. Goffman aims to show that strategic interaction can be isolated analytically from the general study of communication and face-to-face interaction. The first essay addresses expression games, in which a participant spars to discover the value of information given openly or unwittingly by another. The author uses vivid examples from espionage literature and high-level political intrigue to show how people mislead one another in the information game. Both observer and observed create evidence that is false and uncover evidence that is real. In "Strategic Interaction," the book's second essay, action is the central concern, and expression games are secondary. Goffman makes clear that often, when it seems that an opponent sets off a course of action through verbal communication, he really has a finger on your trigger, your chips on the table, or your check in his bank. Communication may reinforce conduct, but in the end, action speaks louder. Those who gamble with their wits, and those who study those who do, will find this analysis important and stimulating.

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The acclaimed sociologist's landmark, compassionate work on how society treats those who are different'By definition, of course, we believe the person with a stigma is not quite human'In ancient times stigma were physical marks branded on people considered unfit to be in society. Today social stigma shames those seen as 'abnormal' in more insidious ways. Erving Goffman's defining sociological study draws extensively on the lived experiences of those who have found themselves on the edges of society to look at the complex ways in which stigmatized individuals see and project themselves, the strategies they use to deal with rejection, and how stigma can shatter their relationships with others.'His brilliant book' Guardian

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One of the defining works of twentieth-century sociology: a revelatory analysis of how we present ourselves to others'The self, then, as a performed character, is not an organic thing ... it is a dramatic effect'How do we communicate who we are to other people? This landmark work by one of the twentieth century's most influential sociologists argues that our behaviour in social situations is defined by how we wish to be perceived - resulting in displays startlingly similar to those of actors in a theatrical performance. From the houses and clothes that we use as 'fixed props' to the 'backstage' of the solitude in which our personas are rehearsed and relaxed, Goffman reveals human character not to be fixed, but fluid and consciously maintained.'Never less than brilliant' New Statesman

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