Theoretical Approaches to Identity

Theoretical Approaches to Identity

1. Interationists

   • Cooley (Interactionist) talks about the 'looking glass self', this refers to the idea that as individuals interact with those around them, they develop ideas about how others see them as our image is reflected in the reactions of others like a mirror. we consider the image that is reflected back to us and using this we may modify ourselves to either act more like how others see us or to change how others see us.
   • Goffman (Interactionist) talks about the dramatic analogy and impression management. The dramatic analogy refers to the idea that society is like a stage with people acting out performances like actors in order to persuade others of their identity. Impression management refers to an individual trying to assert a particular identity, we achieve managing our impression using consumption choices and choice of leisure activities.
     • If we have already have another master status we may be unable to assert a particular identity, this is especially likely if we have a stigmatised identity.
   • Interactionist views see individuals in society as having too much control over their identity. There is not enough emphasis on the inequalities within society that causes an individuals choice in identity to be limited or controlled., e.g. if a homosexual person considers this to be a part of their identity, it may cause social disapproval due to lack of correspondence with the norms and values within society.

2. Postmodernists

   • Postmodernists believe that in todays , we are able to construct our own unique identities through consumption choice and leisure activities.
     • Some sociologists, like Marxists, would argue that due to a lack of money and income from a job, which is a measure of social class, we are unable to access whatever we want.

3. Structuration

   • Giddens developed the idea of structuration, the theory that acknowledges both structural and interactionist theories. Giddens accepts the ideas of structural approach that social structures limit what identities poeple are able to adopt but also accepts that social structures provide a basis to form and adopt identities in the fist place. He uses the idea of the reflexive self to show how people actively participate in the formation of their identity by thinking about, reflecting on and altering their identity, they do this whilst interacting with others around them and the agencies of socialisation.

4. Structural Approaches

   • Funtionalists
     • Functionalists believe that social institutions allocate individuals different roles within society based of their personal skills.
       • Bourdieu (Marxist) would argue that social institutions, like the education system, reinforces and reproduces social class inequalities by training the working class to be a skilled labourers in a capitalist society whilst those at the top of the social heirarchy maintyain having the cultural capital and so remain at the top.
     • Merton argued that all institutions have manifest funtions, these are intended outcomes, and latent functions, these are hidden or unintended outcome, e.g. the manifest function of the education system is to give people knowldge and allow social mobility, the latent function of the education system is to maintain socially constructed ideas about the kind of future an individual can expect to have due to their social class identity.
   • Marxists
     • Marxists believe that and individuals identity revolves around their social class because the cultural norms and values that influence identity are created and maintained by the ruling class.
     • Marxists argue that cultural consumption can lead to individuals forming class identities, e.g a person who indulges in high culture is likely to have an upper class identity whereas a person who indulges in mass culture is likely to possess a working class identity.
       • Postmodernists argue against this point as they believe that in todays society, individuals have access to a wide range of culture, e.g. a person of the working class can access high culture products like pictures of the Mona Lisa online.
         • Marxists would argue that a persons access to this type of culture is restriced because they do not have access to the instituions, books, etc. that contain this information as they are expensive and possibly unknown to the working class. Also, even if they do have access to this information they may not understand of be able to process it as they do not have the education and knowledge required to process this information.
   • Feminists
     • Feminists believe that in a patriarchal society, gender identities have because more stereotypical and that during sociolisation we are socialised into these stereotypical gender identities to carry out gender roles.
   • Structural approaches view individuals in society as passive puppets, or 'cultural dopes' (Garfinkel) the passively absorb the information given to them during socialisation. They do not acknowledge that humans have free will and can make decisions for themselves.