No description available.

Master of Arts / Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work / Gerad Middendorf / The stigma of prison extends beyond the male prisoner to those who care about him, often his wife. Almost all prisoners will be released back into their communities (Hughes, 2003) and having a solid support network improves successful re-entry experiences and lowers recidivism rates for men who are released from prison (Duwe & Clark, 2013). The stigmatization that prison wives feel because they are married to an inmate, can affect how attached they feel to their community, how comfortable they feel in their workplace, and how accepted they feel by their family and friends. Financial exploitation, challenging prison policies, and visitation procedures oftentimes can make an already difficult situation even more difficult. While the number of men in prison in the United States is slowly declining, the United States remains the world leader in the number of people incarcerated (Travis, et. al., 2014). As this level of incarceration continues to affect such a large number of people (specifically women for this research) in our society, there is reason to consider a more intentional approach to focusing on recognizing the feelings and experiences of prison wives. This research includes narrative interviews of 35 women who identified as prison wives. The goal of the research was to specifically gather details on their experiences of being a prison wife and how they feel that society judged them based on the stereotype they perceived society to have. My research shows that the interviewees feel stigmatized; however, the awareness of, feelings about, and the reaction toward the stigmatization manifests differently among the two groups of prison wives that I identified: Riders and Stoppers. I have gathered details about how their experiences were often made more challenging as they tried to maintain their relationships in the midst of financial exploitation and challenging prison policies and procedures. I conclude my thesis on the relevancy of their experiences as they relate to the prison-industrial complex in our society and how this affects their interactions within the communities in which a prisoner’s wife, family members, and formerly incarcerated individuals live and work.

Thesis advisor: Paul Gray / There is an image associated with BC students that most, if not all, undergraduates can describe. Though the more superficial explanation only includes expensive preppy brand names, Apple products, and working out at the Plex, the BC image is more multifaceted. A study of consumerism, fashion, status, narcissism, collective consciousness, the self and the generalized other, and even Jesuit ideals provides the theoretical background to the analysis. The data were collected through focus group interviews, surveys, pictures, and observations to form a complete idea of BC image. This thesis explores the many sources of this image, its definition, and the extent to which students identify with it. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2013. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: College Honors Program. / Discipline: Sociology Honors Program. / Discipline: Sociology.

In this study, I examine how congressional candidates present gendered identities on their campaign websites. In my theory of candidate gendered identity, drawn from literature on presentation of the self and gender performativity, I argue that candidates construct their personal identities in relation to universally understood archetypes, which stand for ideal representations of real-world characters or roles. Through an in-depth content analysis of the biographical pages of 2010 U.S. House of Representatives candidate campaign websites, I examine how candidates construct and perform a range of gender-based archetypal roles in various electoral contexts. Specifically, I look at how such factors as electoral context, candidate partisan identification, and incumbency status (or challenger status) determine the range of archetypal roles a candidate might choose to perform. What I find is that candidate gender matters, but only for some candidates in some contexts. For many candidates, these factors have an interacting effect on the manner in which a candidate presents his or her gender-based identity. This study contributes to our current understanding of how political candidates behave and present themselves in their political campaigns. In their efforts to connect with and gain the trust of potential voters, candidates present their personal identities through the performances of familiar archetypes with which those voters can easily identify.

This sociological study uses online survey data from one hundred and six respondents to explore how social networking websites alter the social self. Critical and symbolic interactionist sociological theory is used as a means to understand the data. This dissertation specifically concerns how social networking websites shape identity, result in a more self-reflexive presentation of self, and serve as a means of both socialization and social control.

There has been extensive literature on the subject of subcultures in the fields of criminology and sociology. The term has undergone decades upon decades of revisions and debate amongst scholars. Despite the vast amount of literature available on the term subculture, there is unfortunately no clear-cut definition of what a subculture is, especially after what many sociologists referred to as the Post-Subcultural Turn. While that is problematic in and of itself, the term subculture still has yet to be framed and understood in light of recent technological advancements and strides towards globalization. This thesis will attempt to shed light on the muddled conceptions of the term subculture, as well as expanding subcultural theory to include subcultural engagement in online settings. Chapter 1 will provide a chronological account of the term subculture, including many of its evolutions, revisions and interpretations based on different schools of thought. Chapter 2 will follow up by discussing many of the criticisms directed at past conceptualizations of subculture, and where the term subculture should be heading with regards to expanding its conceptualization without conflating it with other terms. Chapter 2 will finish by suggesting a new path towards conceptualization by adapting subculture to include how subcultures are being formed and maintained through the use of the Internet. To make sense of subcultures using social networking sites in future chapters, Chapter 3 will delve into some of the main technological developments of the Internet including computer-mediated communication, social networks, and how they function as virtual conduits for facilitating social interactions and the spread of knowledge. Chapter 4 will pick up from Chapter 3 by discussing deviance in online settings, as well as introducing a new Goffmanian approach to understanding the presentation of self in online settings. Lastly, Chapter 5 will seek to answer three main questions about subcultures and their existence in online settings: 1. How do social networking sites operate as virtual conduits for the presentation of self? 2. How do subculturalists use social networking sites to create a sense of online community and membership? 3. How do subculturalists employ presentation of self strategies? These questions will be answered by employing an adapted Goffmanian approach to the presentation of self in online settings while also rethinking the concept of subcultural style. Lastly, this thesis will seek to provide guidance on where gaps in the literature still exist and can be explored in the near future.

No description available.

In this thesis, we explore the ways individuals interact with one another on Instagram through a netnographic study. In observing the profiles and content of 15 participants from around the world, we were able to observe how the participants and the audience members used captions, emojis, and hashtags to interact with one another on Instagram. Utilizing the works of Erving Goffman's Presentation of Self in Everyday Life (1959) and Pierre Bourdieu's Forms of Capital (1986), we were able to observe Instagram through Goffman's perspective about the performance and how the interactions are forms of capital. From these observations, we were able to form four (4) concluding hypotheses: 1) Individuals conduct performances on Instagram and aim to give a good presentation of self to an audience; 2) Instagram has a very distinct language whereby individuals communicate meaning through emojis and hashtags; 3) Any observer on the Instagram platform is constantly making inferences about others; lastly, 4) Instagram is its own distinct social space with its own characteristics and subcultures.

Rökare får allt mer mindre utrymme att röka på och det blir allt mindre socialt accepterat att röka i dagens samhälle. Syftet med vår uppsats är att undersöka hur rökaren upplever samhällets normer och negativitet kring rökning, samt hur detta påverkar dem. Vår huvudsakliga frågeställning har varit ”Hur påverkas rökare av samhället nedvärderande syn på rökning?”, men även om det finns någon skillnad i deras rökningsbeteende beroende på social situation. Studien är gjord med hjälp av en kvalitativ metod i form av intervjuer, där vi intervjuat 6 rökare allt ifrån åldern 23-70. Vi har använt oss utav Goffmans intrycksstyrningoch Harveys rumsbegreppför att kunna förklara ur ett sociologiskt perspektiv hur rökaren upplever samhället och hur det påverkar denne. Vårt resultat har visat att rökare anpassar sig väldigt mycket till den sociala situationen, samt tar hänsyn till andra och att rökare kartlägger sin rökning grundat på tid, rum och social situation. / Smokersgetincreasinglyless roomto smokeanditis becoming lesssociallyacceptable to smokeintoday's society.The purpose of ourpaper is to examinehowthe smokerexperiencingsocial normsandnegativity surroundingsmoking,andhow this affectsthem. Our mainresearch questionwas"How does the negative view on smoking in today’s society affect smokers?”, but also if there is any differenceintheir smokingbehaviordepending on thesocial situation.The study was conductedusinga qualitative approachin the form ofinterviews, wherewe interviewedsixsmokersranging fromages23-70. We have usedGoffman'spresentation of SelfandHarveysspace theory to explainfrom a sociological perspectivehowsmokersperceivesociety andhow it affectshim.Ourresults have shownthat smokers arevery adaptedtothe social situation, they are considerate andthat smokerscharttheir smokingbased on thetime, placeand social situation.

Title: I saw it on Facebook – Youth presentation of self on Facebook Authors: Nicole Dreher & Anders Skoglund Presented: 01.06.2010 Purpose: The purpose of this thesis was to examine how the, in the study, participating youths make their presentation of self on their Facebook profiles. Methodology: The method used in the thesis was a social semiotic analysis focusing on the social semiotic concepts: semiotic resource, semiotic potential, affordance, denotation and connotation. A social semiotic analysis of composition was also used with the purpose to gain a deeper knowledge of the social semiotic affordances of Facebook’s composition. Theoretical perspectives: The theoretical base of this thesis consists mainly of Erving Goffman’s theory on presentation of self in everyday life as well as relevant theories to youth culture in sociology and identity in social psychology. Conclusions: The results show that the youth’s presentations of selves mostly takes place in their profile picture, status updates, groups, fan pages and through their communication with other users on their wall. The borders between front and back stage on Facebook entirely depends on the norms that the reader expects the profile owner to uphold. The most frequent reason for impression management among the participating youths seemed to be to uphold a façade on front stage, i.e. Facebook, amongst their friends. Most of the participants’ use of Facebook confirms theories from previous research on the Internet generation – that they use it to communicate, network and to express opinions. The results also showed that the profile owner, through their status updates, can revise and reform their presentation of self at any time. / Denna uppsats undersöker hur de deltagande ungdomarna gör självpresentationer på sina Facebook- profiler. Detta kommer att undersökas genom en socialsemiotisk metod med fokus på begreppen semiotisk potential, affordance, konnotation, denotation. Det teoretiska ramverk som ligger till grund för uppsatsen är Goffmans dramaturgiska perspektiv som liknar livet vid en teater. Alla sociala interaktioner sker på en scen och individen har olika roller beroende på kontexten. Varje framträdande har, likt teatern, en bakre och främre region, där den främre är den roll du har vid uppträdandet och den bakre är den privata regionen. Goffmans perspektiv tar även upp intrycksstyrning vilket används för att styra det som släpps ut på scenen, den främre regionen. Det teoretiska ramverket innehåller även socialpsykologins identitetsbegrepp samt ett avsnitt om ungdomar, deras kultur och hur de förhåller sig till Internet. Uppsatsen undersöker även, med en socialsemiotiskmetod hur scenen Facebook är komponerat för att se vilka möjligheter av självpresentation det finns. Scenen Facebook är komponerat med tre olika spalter, där den mittersta är störst och har den primära funktionen. Den västra spalten innehåller profilbilden med kompletterande information, i syfte att påvisa vem profilägaren är. Mittenspalten har två olika innehåll, den ena är informationssidan som återger biografiska uppgifter om profilägaren samt vilka grupper och pages denne tillhör. Den andra är wall:en, Facebooks centrala del, här kartläggs de aktiviteter profilägaren gör, till exempel: skriva på någons wall, kommentera på bilder, lägga upp egna bilder eller bli taggad i bilder. Det undersökningen kom fram till var självpresentationen sker främst genom grupper och pages, statusuppdateringar, profilbild och kommunikation på wall:en samt att den varierar beroende på aktivitet. Vid hög aktivitet är det klarare vad som är menat att publicera och vad som regleras med intryckskontroll. Vid låg aktivitet var det ett problem att se vad som var intrycksstyrning och vad som var ett slentrianmässigt användande av Facebook. Det kom även fram att den profilbild som visas ofta är representativ utifrån materialet. Den som hade en humoristisk profilbild hade även en profil med ett humoristiskt tema. Humor var även det mest genomgående temat bland profilerna och ofta med subkultur kopplat till detta.