Erving Goffman facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Erving Goffman
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| Born | 11 June 1922 Mannville, Alberta, Canada
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| Died | 19 November 1982 (aged 60) |
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| Education | St. John's Technical High School |
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| Known for | Total institution Various symbolic interactionist concepts:
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| Relatives | Frances Bay (sister) |
| Awards | Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1969; Guggenheim Fellowship, 1977; Cooley-Mead Award, 1979; Mead Award, 1983 |
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| Fields | Symbolic interactionism |
| Institutions | National Institute of Mental Health; University of California, Berkeley; University of Pennsylvania; American Sociological Association; American Association for the Abolition of Involuntary Mental Hospitalization |
| Thesis | Communication Conduct in an Island Community (1953) |
| Doctoral advisor | W. Lloyd Warner |
| Other academic advisors | Anselm Strauss |
| Doctoral students | John Lofland, Harvey Sacks, Emanuel Schegloff, Eviatar Zerubavel |
| Influences | Ray Birdwhistell, Herbert Blumer, Émile Durkheim, Sigmund Freud, C. W. M. Hart, Everett Hughes, Alfred Radcliffe-Brown, Talcott Parsons, Alfred Schütz, Georg Simmel, W. Lloyd Warner, Dennis Wrong |
Erving Goffman (born June 11, 1922 – died November 19, 1982) was a very important Canadian-American sociologist. He studied how people interact with each other every day. Many people think he was "the most influential American sociologist of the twentieth century."
In 2007, The Times Higher Education Guide said he was the sixth most-cited author in books about humanities and social sciences. This means many other scholars used his ideas in their own work. He was also the 73rd president of the American Sociological Association.
Goffman is best known for his ideas on symbolic interaction. This is how people use symbols and gestures to understand each other. He used a method called dramaturgical analysis. This idea compares social life to a play on a stage. His first book about this was The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life (1956). Other famous books by Goffman include Asylums (1961), Stigma (1963), and Forms of Talk (1981). He studied things like everyday social life, how people see themselves, and special places called total institutions.
Contents
About Erving Goffman's Life
Goffman was born on June 11, 1922, in Mannville, Alberta, Canada. His parents, Max and Anne Goffman, were Ukrainian Jews who had moved to Canada. His older sister, Frances Bay, became a famous actress. His family later moved to Dauphin, Manitoba, where his father ran a successful business making clothes.
Early Education and Interests
In 1937, Goffman went to St. John's Technical High School in Winnipeg. In 1939, he started studying chemistry at the University of Manitoba. He paused his studies to work in the film industry for the National Film Board of Canada. During this time, he met a well-known sociologist named Dennis Wrong. This meeting made Goffman interested in sociology.
He then went to the University of Toronto, where he studied sociology and anthropology. He graduated in 1945. After that, he moved to the University of Chicago to continue his studies. He earned his master's degree in 1949 and his PhD in sociology in 1953. For his PhD, he lived on the island of Unst in the Shetland Islands from 1949 to 1951. He collected information about how people communicated there. His PhD paper was called Communication Conduct in an Island Community.
Family Life and Hobbies
In 1952, Goffman married Angelica Schuyler Choate, who was called Sky. Their son, Thomas, was born in 1953. Angelica faced health challenges and passed away in 1964.
Outside of his academic work, Goffman was interested in the stock market and gambling. He was quite good at them. At one point, he even worked as a pit boss at a casino in Las Vegas as part of his studies.
In 1981, Goffman married sociolinguist Gillian Sankoff. Their daughter, Alice Goffman, was born the next year. Erving Goffman died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on November 19, 1982, from stomach cancer. His daughter Alice also became a sociologist.
Erving Goffman's Career and Work
Goffman's research on the island of Unst helped him write his first major book, The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life (1956). This book became very famous and won an award in 1961.
After finishing his studies, he worked at the National Institute for Mental Health in Maryland from 1954 to 1957. While there, he observed people in mental hospitals. These observations led to his second important book, Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates (1961). This book looked at the lives of people in "total institutions."
University Roles and Key Publications
In 1958, Goffman joined the sociology department at the University of California, Berkeley. He became a full professor there in 1962. In 1968, he moved to the University of Pennsylvania. He became a special professor there, holding the Benjamin Franklin Chair in Sociology and Anthropology.
In 1969, he became a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 1970, he helped start the American Association for the Abolition of Involuntary Mental Hospitalization. This group worked to change how people were treated in mental hospitals.
In 1971, he published Relations in Public, which brought together many of his ideas about everyday life. Another major book, Frame Analysis, came out in 1974. He received a special award called a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1977–78. In 1979, he won the Cooley-Mead Award for his excellent research. He was also elected president of the American Sociological Association for 1981–82. Sadly, he was too ill to give his presidential speech in person.
After he passed away, in 1983, Goffman received the Mead Award.
Goffman's Impact and Ideas
Goffman's work was influenced by many other thinkers, including Herbert Blumer and Georg Simmel. Even though he didn't always agree with other theorists, his ideas have had a big impact on many sociologists today.
Goffman is often linked to the idea of symbolic interaction. This is about how people create meaning through their interactions. However, he didn't see himself as part of just one specific group of thinkers. His work is hard to summarize into just a few main ideas. But generally, he studied human behavior in a detailed, comparative way.
Understanding Social Interaction
Goffman made big steps in studying how people interact face-to-face. He developed the "dramaturgical approach" to human interaction. This idea says that people act out different "roles" in their daily lives, just like actors in a play. He also came up with many concepts that are very important in the study of everyday life. Much of his work focused on how everyday behavior is organized. He called this the "interaction order."
He also helped develop the idea of framing (called frame analysis). This is about how people understand and make sense of situations. He also contributed to game theory, which looks at how people make choices when they interact.
Goffman often used ethnography in his research. This means he studied people by observing them closely in their natural settings. He famously used this method to study mental illness and how "total institutions" work. His ideas helped bridge the gap between how individuals act and how society is structured. He made ideas like social constructionism and symbolic interaction more popular.
Impression Management
One of Goffman's key ideas is "impression management." This is how people try to control the image they show to others. They do this through their words, actions, and even their appearance. Goffman believed that people see themselves based on how others see them. So, they try to present an acceptable image.
For example, someone might hide their tattoos when applying for a job if they think tattoos would be seen as unprofessional. Or they might hide a hobby that society might see as unusual. People choose how to act based on what society expects in a certain situation. This is called the "definition of the situation."
Goffman's Writing Style
Goffman's writing style was unique. It was described as "sardonic, satiric, jokey," and "ironic." This made his books more enjoyable and easier to read than many other academic works. His style also influenced other academics to write in a less formal way.
Goffman's Students and Legacy
Many students learned from Goffman, including John Lofland and Harvey Sacks. Even though he had a big influence, there aren't many scholars who continue his work in the exact same way. This might be because his writing style is hard to copy. Also, some of his topics, like behavior in public places, were sometimes seen as less important by other scholars.
Despite this, Goffman is still considered "the most influential American sociologist of the twentieth century." He is seen as a "revered figure" who helped us understand society in new ways.
Important Books by Erving Goffman
Goffman wrote many important books that are still studied today.
The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life
This was Goffman's first and most famous book, published in 1956. In it, he describes how people act like actors on a stage in their daily interactions. When you meet someone, you try to control what they think of you. You do this by changing your setting, how you look, and how you act. At the same time, the other person is trying to figure you out.
Goffman also believed that people try to avoid embarrassing themselves or others. He said that society is like a play with different "stages." There's an "onstage" area where people perform their roles and try to make a good impression. But there's also a "backstage" area. This is a private place where people can relax and be themselves, without having to act out a social role.
Asylums
Goffman helped make the term "total institution" popular with his 1961 book Asylums. A total institution is a place where people live together and their lives are controlled, like a prison or a mental hospital. This book was one of the first to look at the lives of mental patients in psychiatric hospitals. It helped us understand the social side of mental illness.
The book has four essays. They describe how being in a total institution changes people. Goffman showed how people in these places might become "dull, harmless, and inconspicuous." This can make their mental illness seem worse. But even in these places, people find ways to keep their own identities.
Asylums helped lead to changes in mental health systems in many countries. It encouraged fewer large mental hospitals and more freedom for patients.
Stigma
Goffman's book Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity (1963) looks at how people deal with shame. Stigma is the shame a person might feel when they don't meet society's standards. People try to hide things about themselves that might lead to judgment. For example, someone with a criminal record might not tell others about it, fearing they will be judged.
Interaction Ritual
Goffman's Interaction Ritual: Essays on Face-to-Face Behavior is a collection of six essays. One important essay is "On Face-work." It talks about "face," which is the positive self-image a person tries to keep when interacting with others. Goffman believed that once you show a positive image of yourself, you feel a need to keep it up. If you act inconsistently, you risk embarrassment. So, people are careful to present themselves in a good light.
Strategic Interaction
Goffman's book Strategic Interaction (1969) is his contribution to game theory. He saw reality as a kind of game with rules. He discussed the different "moves" people make when they try to get or hide information.
Gender Advertisements
In Gender Advertisements, Goffman looked at how gender is shown in advertisements that we see every day. This book was unique because it used a method to analyze images and messages. It helped other scholars understand how gender is presented in advertising.
Forms of Talk
Goffman's book, Forms of Talk (1981), includes five essays. These essays look at both spoken and non-verbal communication. The book gives a good overview of how we study talk.
One essay, "Replies and Responses," looks at how people respond in conversations, both with words and body language. Another, "Response Cries," discusses how we use sounds like "oops" or "hmm" and what they mean in different situations. "Footing" talks about how our position or attitude can change during a conversation. "The Lecture" describes different ways people give talks. Finally, "Radio Talk" looks at how people talk on the radio and how it affects listeners.
Where Erving Goffman Worked
During his career, Erving Goffman worked at several universities and institutions:
- University of Chicago, Chicago: Assistant and resident associate, 1952–54.
- National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, Maryland: Visiting scientist, 1954–57.
- University of California, Berkeley: Assistant professor and professor of sociology, 1957–68.
- University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia: Benjamin Franklin Professor of Anthropology and Sociology, 1969–82.
Selected Works by Erving Goffman
- 1959: The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. ISBN: 978-0-14-013571-8.
- 1961: Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates. ISBN: 978-0-14-013739-2
- 1961: Encounters: Two Studies in the Sociology of Interaction – Fun in Games & Role Distance.
- 1963: Behavior in Public Places: Notes on the Social Organization of Gatherings. ISBN: 978-0-02-911940-2
- 1963: Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity. ISBN: 978-0-671-62244-2
- 1967: Interaction Ritual: Essays on Face-to-Face Behavior. ISBN: 978-0-394-70631-3
- 1969: Strategic Interaction. ISBN: 978-0-345-02804-4
- 1969: Where the action is. ISBN: 978-0-7139-0079-8
- 1971: Relations in Public: Microstudies of the Public Order. ISBN: 978-0-06-131957-0
- 1974: Frame analysis: An essay on the organization of experience. ISBN: 978-0-06-090372-5
- 1979: Gender Advertisements. ISBN: 978-0-06-132076-7
- 1981: Forms of Talk. ISBN: 978-0-8122-7790-6
See also
In Spanish: Erving Goffman para niños
- Franco Basaglia
- Civil inattention
- Deinstitutionalization
- The Radical Therapist
