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Goffman- Beyond Drama

Goffman- Beyond Drama. The Deseran Contribution. Total Institutions. Goffman’s Asylums (1961) Athletic Director in Wash. DC Mental Hospital Compared to One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Next. What is a total institution? people are bureaucratically processed

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Goffman- Beyond Drama

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  1. Goffman- Beyond Drama The Deseran Contribution

  2. Total Institutions • Goffman’s Asylums (1961) • Athletic Director in Wash. DC Mental Hospital • Compared to One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Next

  3. What is a total institution? • people are bureaucratically processed • physically isolated from the normal round of activities • sleep, work, and play within the confines • Examples? • Monasteries, prisons, boarding schools

  4. An Application of Goffman’s Perspective • John Hockey’s Squaddies • basic training • institutional goal to transform civilians to soldiers • i.e., change self images and loyalties to conform to institutional goals

  5. Two Stages • Stage 1 - Civilian Role Dispossession (or, role stripping) • Stage 2 – Adaptation and Adjustment

  6. Stage 1 - Civilian Role Dispossession (or, role stripping) • Involves 4 steps • Step 1. Change in Physical appearance • Remove “personal identity kits” • Uniforms, hair, etc.

  7. Stage 1 - Civilian Role Dispossession (con’d) • Step 2 – Lack of Privacy • Remove back stage areas • Latrines, sleeping quarters, mess halls • Invasions of the territories of self (Goffman’s terms) • Pop inspections • “Lovi-poo letter”

  8. Stage 1 - Civilian Role Dispossession (con’d) • Step 3 - Restricted autonomy of movement • cut off from outside • limited access to phone, writing, etc. • These are important sources of civilian sense of identity

  9. Stage 1 - Civilian Role Dispossession (con’d) • Step 4 - Lack of self-determination • choices are made for you • what to wear • when to go somewhere • what to eat, etc.

  10. All of this leads to: • fatigue – • long hours (average of 3 hours per night sleep) all night operations, etc. • Anxiety – • fear is basic motivator; fear of losing what few privileges one has • Disorientation – • continued confusion about what is expected; • routines always in jeopardy. • Fire drills at all hours, ripping up bunks and lockers • New role models – • begin to notice that other seem to cope and actually do well • polished boots.

  11. Stage 2 – Adaptation and Adjustment • Gradual lifting of impossible demands simultaneous with learning how to cope •  Emerging symbols of status • white bars (11 weeks) red bars (18 weeks) • faded uniforms • Emphasis on masculinity • i.e., rites of passage to become a “man” • No longer as relevant • Develop Loyalty • PT log

  12. This all leads to self image as • Soldier

  13. "institutional underlife" • Unofficial side of Basic Training • Part of human condition to attempt to preserve autonomy and identity • Need for free spaces from surveillance • Also, cooperation is necessary • for legitimate (i.e., institutional) as well as unofficial ends

  14. "institutional under life" (con’d) • Short cuts • boot shinola= glow wax • buckles in helmets, • strack beds with blousing rubbers, • hiding boony boots

  15. "institutional under life" (con’d) • Scrounging • method of keeping required equipment • elaborate underground network for paint etc. • pogey bait runs

  16. "institutional under life" (con’d) •  Importance of humor • “role distance” • practical jokes on tack officers • push ups in pizza • smoking joking and hanging around

  17. "institutional under life" (con’d) • Creative use of rules • magic pencils • guard duty and conjugal visit

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