Erving Goffman

Erving Goffman (June 11, 1922 – November 19, 1982), was a sociologist and writer. The 73rd president of American Sociological Association, Goffman's greatest contribution to social theory is his study of symbolic interaction in the form of dramaturgical perspective that begun with his 1959 book The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life and was developed throughout his life. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (559x715, 81 KB)Erving Goffman Source: [1] This work is copyrighted and unlicensed. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (559x715, 81 KB)Erving Goffman Source: [1] This work is copyrighted and unlicensed. ... June 11 is the 162nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (163rd in leap years), with 203 days remaining. ... Year 1922 (MCMXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar). ... November 19 is the 323rd day of the year (324th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Sociological inquiry. ... This is a list of presidents of the American Sociological Association. ... The American Sociological Association (ASA), founded in 1905, is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the discipline and profession of sociology by serving sociologists in their work and promoting their contributions. ... Social theory refers to the use of abstract and often complex theoretical frameworks to explain and analyze social patterns and large-scale social structures. ... Symbolic interactionism is a major sociological perspective (paradigm) that is influential in many areas of sociology. ... The dramaturgical perspective is a model for human behavior that studies how humans establish meaning to their lives. ... The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life is a seminal book by Erving Goffman. ...

Biography

Goffman was born to parents Max and Anne Goffman in Manville, Alberta on June 11, 1922. He was married to Angelica Choate in 1952, with whom he had one son, Tom. Angelica committed suicide in 1964. In 1981 he married the Canadian linguist Gillian Sankoff, with whom he had a daughter, Alice. On November 20, 1982 he died of stomach cancer. Goffman was one of the most influential sociologists of the twentieth century, on a par with Weber, Durkheim, Marx, and Mead, in whose footsteps he followed in developing a sociological social psychology. Goffman studied at the University of Chicago with Everett Hughes, Edward Shils, and W. Lloyd Warner. He would go on to pioneer the study of face-to-face interaction, or micro-sociology, elaborate the "dramaturgical approach" to human interaction, and develop numerous concepts which would have a massive influence. Unlike many of the most influential sociologists, Goffman's influence continued to grow after his death. Suicide (from Latin sui caedere, to kill oneself) is the act of willfully ending ones own life. ... Stomach cancer (also called gastric cancer) can develop in any part of the stomach and may spread throughout the stomach and to other organs, particularly the esophagus, small intestine. ...

Goffman who attented St. John's Technical High School, Dauphin around 1937 and studied chemistry in University of Manitoba, 1939, received his B.A. at the University of Toronto in 1945 and his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1949 and 1953. For the rural municipality, see Dauphin, Manitoba (rural municipality) Dauphin is a city in Manitoba of approximately 8085 people. ... The University of Manitoba is the largest university of the province of Manitoba, most comprehensive and only research-intensive post-secondary educational institution. ... Bachelor of Arts (B.A., BA or A.B.), from the Latin Artium Baccalaureus is an undergraduate bachelors degree awarded for either a course or a program in the liberal arts or the sciences, or both. ... The University of Toronto (U of T) is a coeducational public research university in Toronto, Ontario. ... Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ... A masters degree is an academic degree usually awarded for completion of a postgraduate (or graduate) course of one to three years in duration. ... This does not cite its references or sources. ... The University of Chicago is a private university located principally in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago. ... 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1949 calendar). ... 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday. ...

During his lifetime he was awarded the following:

• Doctor of Laws (LL.D.), University of Manitoba, 1976
• Guggenheim fellowship, 1977-78
• In Medias Res, International Prize for Communicating, 1978
• Doctor of Hebrew Literature/Letters (D.H.L.), University of Chicago, 1979
• Mead-Cooley Award in social psychology
• Forms of Talk was nominated for a National Book Critics Circle award, 1981

During his career Goffman served at the following institutions: Legum Doctor (English: Doctor of Laws; abbreviated to LL.D.) In the UK the LL.D. is a higher doctorate awarded on the basis of exceptionally insightful and distinctive publications, containing significant and original contributions to the science or study of law. ... The University of Manitoba is the largest university of the province of Manitoba, most comprehensive and only research-intensive post-secondary educational institution. ... 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday. ... Guggenheim can be a reference to any of a number of members or interests of the Guggenheim family, including: the patriarch of the family, Meyer Guggenheim, or his descendents such as Daniel, Solomon Robert, Simon, Benjamin and Peggy; any of the Guggenheim Museums; or foundations such as the Solomon R... In media(s) res (Latin for into the middle of things) is a literary technique where the narrative starts in the middle of the story instead of from its beginning (ab ovo or ab initio). ... 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday. ... The University of Chicago is a private university located principally in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago. ... For the Smashing Pumpkins song, see 1979 (song). ... Social psychology is often conceived to be the study of how individuals perceive, influence, and relate to others. ... 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

• University of Chicago, Division of Social Sciences, Chicago, assistant, 1952-53, resident associate, 1953-54
• National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, Maryland, visiting scientist, 1954-57
• University of California, Berkeley, assistant professor, 1958-59, associate professor, 1959-62, professor of sociology, 1962-68
• University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Benjamin Franklin Professor of Anthropology and Sociology, 1968-82

He was also the 73rd persident of American Sociological Association^[1] This article is about Illinois largest city. ... Bethesda, the name of a pool in the New Testament, has been adopted as a name by many other places and things. ... Official language(s) None (English, de facto) Capital Annapolis Largest city Baltimore Area  Ranked 42nd  - Total 12,417 sq mi (32,160 km²)  - Width 90 miles (145 km)  - Length 249 miles (400 km)  - % water 21  - Latitude 37°53N to 39°43N  - Longitude 75°4W to 79°33... The University of California, Berkeley (also known as UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, and by other names, see below) is the oldest and flagship campus of the ten-campus University of California system. ... The University of Pennsylvania (or Penn[3][4]) is a private, nonsectarian research university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ... Nickname: City of Brotherly Love, Philly, the Cradle of Liberty, the City That Loves You Back, the Quaker City, The Birthplace of America Motto: Philadelphia maneto - Let brotherly love continue Location in Pennsylvania Coordinates: Country United States State Pennsylvania County Philadelphia Founded October 27, 1682 Incorporated October 25, 1701 Mayor... This is a list of presidents of the American Sociological Association. ... The American Sociological Association (ASA), founded in 1905, is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the discipline and profession of sociology by serving sociologists in their work and promoting their contributions. ...

Achievements

Author of the seminal text Asylums, for which he gathered information at the National Institute of Mental Health in Washington, D.C., he describes "institutionalization" as a response by patients to the bureaucratic structures and mortification processes of Total Institutions such as mental hospitals, prisons and concentration camps. Goffman uses phenomenology to understand how humans perceive the interactions that they observe and take part in. To Goffman there is no real capital-T truth, but interpretations that are real to each individual. Asylums ia 1961 collection of four essays written by sociologist Erving Goffman. ... The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is one of 27 components of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the United States federal governments principal biomedical and behavioral research agency. ... Nickname: DC, The District Motto: Justitia Omnibus (Justice for All) Location of Washington, D.C., in relation to the states Maryland and Virginia Coordinates: Federal District District of Columbia Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) City Council Chairperson: Vincent C. Gray (D) Ward 1: Jim Graham (D) Ward 2: Jack Evans... Institutionalization is a term used to describe both the treatment of, and damage caused to, vulnerable human beings by the oppressive or corrupt application of inflexible systems of social, medical, or legal controls by publicly owned or not-for-profit organisations originally created for beneficial purposes and intents. ... This article is about the philosophical movement. ... For other uses, see Truth (disambiguation). ...

Goffman's greatest contribution to social theory is his formulation of symbolic interaction as dramaturgical perspective in his 1959 book The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. Although Goffman is often characterized as a symbolic interactionist, he tried to correct the flaws of symbolic interactionism. For Goffman, society is not a homogeneous creature. We must act differently in different settings. The context we have to judge is not society at large, but the specific context. Goffman suggests that life is a theatre, but we also need a parking lot and a cloak room: there is a wider context lying beyond the face-to-face symbolic interaction. The dramaturgical perspective is a model for human behavior that studies how humans establish meaning to their lives. ... The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life is a seminal book by Erving Goffman. ... Symbolic interactionism is a sociological perspective which examines how individuals and groups interact, focusing on the creation of personal identity through interaction with others. ...

He also authored Frame analysis: An Essay on the Organization of Experience. Many of his works form the basis for the sociological and media studies concept of framing. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Framing (psychology). ...

Quotes

• "Man is not like other animals in the ways that are really significant: Animals have instincts, we have taxes."
• "Society is an insane asylum run by the inmates."
• "The world, in truth, is a wedding."
• "Stigma is a process by which the reaction of others spoils normal identity"

Major works

• 1959: The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, University of Edinburgh Social Sciences Research Centre.
• 1961: Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates. New York, Doubleday.
• 1961: Encounters: Two Studies in the Sociology of Interaction - Fun in Games & Role Distance. Indianapolis, Bobbs-Merrill.
• 1963: Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity. Prentice-Hall.
• 1967: Interaction Ritual: Essays on Face-to-Face Behavior. Anchor Books.
• 1974: Frame analysis: An essay on the organization of experience. London: Harper and Row.
• 1981: Forms of Talk. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Year 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life is a seminal book by Erving Goffman. ... 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1961 calendar). ... Asylums ia 1961 collection of four essays written by sociologist Erving Goffman. ... 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1961 calendar). ... 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (the link is to a full 1963 calendar). ... Erving Goffman Erving Goffman (June 11, 1922 – November 19, 1982), was a sociologist and writer. ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ... 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

See also

• American Association for the Abolition of Involuntary Mental Hospitalization
• Face (self image)
• impression management
• symbolic interactionism
• Synthetic personality
• total institution

The American Association for the Abolition of Involuntary Mental Hospitalization (AAAIMH) was an organization founded in 1970 by Dr. Thomas Szasz, George Alexander, Erving Goffman for the purpose of abolishing involuntary psychiatric intervention, particularly involuntary commitment, against individuals. ... Face refers to someones public self image. ... In sociology and social psychology, impression management is the process through which people try to control the impressions other people form of them. ... Symbolic interactionism is a sociological perspective which examines how individuals and groups interact, focusing on the creation of personal identity through interaction with others. ... A synthetic personality is a constructed, friendly, approachable persona, often used in broadcast media. ... Total institution as defined by Erving Goffman, is an institution where all the aspects of life of individuals under the institution is controlled and regulated by the authorities of the organization. ...

References

External links

Bios

• Biography
• Biography
• Biography
• Biography

Resources

• Articles on Goffman
• Erving Goffman: A Bibliography
• Extracs
• Goffman and the sociology of order in interaction