Identity

• Functionalist view of identity


  • Identity as a product of being socialised into value consensus
• Marxist view of identity


  • Identity as the product of being socialised into our class position, e.g. whether you are a member of the bourgeoisie
• Feminist view of identity


  • Identity as the product of socialisation into our gender roles
• Interactionist view of identity


  • Socialisation as a two-way process
  • Individuals are not simply passive consumers of culture, norms and values, but rather they actively create identity through interactions
  • Focus on small scale social interactions and how they influence who we are
  • More emphasis on the role of the individual in creating identity
• Interactionists-Norms, values and roles are not roles but guidelines that individuals can interpret
• A drawback to the interactionist theory could be that it ignores class and anomie
• Identity


  Our sense of self, can be influenced by gender, social class, etc.
• Looking-glass self


  The concept explained by Cooley - the idea that our image of ourselves are reflected back at us from the views of others

  As we consider the image of ourselves reflected in the reactions of others we may modify and change our behaviour

  Our self concept or individual identity is therefore a social construct
• Presentation of self


  Sometimes we take initiative rather than waiting for others to form an opinion of us. Goffman called this the presentation of self in everyday life.

  impression management- Goffman- the way individuals try to convince others of the identity they wish to assert by giving particular impressions of themselves
• Impression management


  The way individuals try to convince others of the identity they wish to assert by giving particular impressions of themselves
• According to interactionists, our identity is formed through a combination of understandings of how we see ourselves and how others react to us
• Labelling theory


  • An interactionist theory developed by Becker
  • The labelling theory argues that in society we tend to apply labels to individuals describing how we expect them to behave
  • Labelling theories study how and why some people committing an act are seen as deviant, while other people committing the same act are not
  • Becker's argument is that once an individual has been labelled and has certain behaviour expected of them they tend to live up to that label, acting the expected way
  • The label can become that individual's master status dominating any other statuses they may have
  • Becker focuses on how individuals can be labelled in a negative way by the police, but other agents of social control such as teachers can label students in negative ways and this can impact their self-concept
  • Labels can be negotiated and it might be easier for some people to shake off a negative label
• Individuals are seen as having too much control over their identity in interactionism. Not enough emphasis on power inequalities in society and stigmas.
• While the individual may try to present a certain impression to others, there is no certainty that their impression management will always succeed. This is particularly true for those with stigmatized identities.
• When we meet a stranger, we may notice that they possess an attribute that makes them different, e.g. disabilities. People may define them in terms of their stigmatized attributes, which may be seen as less desirable, even seen as bad/dangerous.
• Goffman analysed the difficulties that some groups face in constructing a positive social identity.