Sociological Drama Theory

Using the metaphor of the theater to describe and explain how roles influence social life has more limitations than benefits. One of the early proponents of sociological drama theory was Erving Goffman. An overview of his concepts reveals that, among other shortcomings, drama theory fails to account for the role of the self in social interaction and the influence of environmental factors.

Goffman admitted that his sociological discourse focused not on the organization of society, but on social interaction (Giddens, 1988, p. 252). Drama theory assumes a pre-set stage. The actors perform on this stage, but play no role in its construction, remodel, or maintenance. It can be assumed that Goffman would be opposed to the notion that a person creates his or her own reality. The organization of society, however, does exert a powerful impact on a person's social interactions. People are influenced by their environments. Giddens (1988) claims that Goffman's work is located somewhere in the continuum between macro and micro studies. Goffman, however, rarely analyzed the links that exist in the wider social realm.

The chief concern in Goffman's theories is face-to-face interaction. Individuals must be physically in one another's presence before his dramaturgical theories come into play. In this micro-social world, a distinct set of rules and forms exist. Goffman believed that individuals who were co-present shared a common awareness: "Focused interaction, Goffman's main

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expanded the concept of the participation framework to include two categories and five subcategories (Levinson, 1988, p. 169). The first category, production format, encompasses the animator ("sounding box"), the author ("agent who scripts the lines"), and the principal ("party to whose position the words attest"). The second category, the participation framework includes the ratified and the unratified. The ratified are the addressed recipient and the unaddressed recipient. The unratified are the over-hearers and the eavesdroppers (Levinson, 1988, p. 169). Goffman's best use of drama as a metaphor for social interaction is his discussion of how roles influence social life. Goffman acknowledges that the roles individuals play often go beyond the actual self of the individual. Roles are general expectations to which the individual closely conforms in the context of a single social establishment. No role or series of roles can correspond precisely to the person. Goffman writes of a role distance that separates the self from the role. Sometimes individuals attempt to divorce themselves from their roles. At other times they are deceptive in their assumption of roles: " . . . Goffman tends to concentrate upon situations in

Category: Psychology - S