Self

Self

1. MAINSTREAM

   • Locke (1694)
     • Self - separate from social, an observable phenomenon
       • SELF is individualistic and dualistic
     • Lockean self - fixed, conscious, self-aware
   • Mead
     • Double Self - "Me" - the self as object - when others are watching and "I" - the self as subject - the agency in A-S dualism
       • Moving towards a social self
       • Both Goffman & Mead
   • Goffman (1959)
     • 3 aspects of self - like an actor in a play - PERFORMER, AUDIENCE, CHARACTER
       • emphasised how SELF emerged from social interaction
   • The CRITICAL post-modern approach
     • SITUATED KNOWLEDGES - Mainstream makes UNIVERSAL CLAIMS that only apply to WESTERN CULTURE.
     • INDIVIDUAL-SOCIETY DUALISM - The SELF is inseparable from the social
     • SELF is not fixed - dynamic, fluid, exists as an ongoing process

2. THE DISCURSIVE PSYCHOLOGICAL SELF

   • The Self exists only in language and discourse
     • Interviews, Discourse analysis, rhetorical analysis
     • IINDIVIDUAL-SOCIETY DUALISM -Self is inseparable from the social world
     • POWER - is in LANGUAGE not individuals
     • AGENCY-STRUCTURE DUALISM - people can choose to accept/reject cultural discourse
     • goes beyond I and ME

3. THE PHENOMENOLOGICAL SELF

   • Studies people's SUBJECTIVE EXPERIENCE rather than objective reality
   • TWO CORE CONCEPTS
     • DASEIN -being in the world
       • Husserl
     • LIFEWORLD - life and world are one
   • SEIERSTAD (2004)
     • MARKET SHOPPING IN BURKAS
       • 3 STEPS OF PHENOM. METHOD
         • EPOCHE -avoiding interpretation
         • DESCRIPTION not INTERPRETATION
         • HORIZONTALIZATION - everything is equal
   • ASHWORTH & ASHWORTH (2003)
     • Alzheimers sufferer
       • The other is a subject in the world - A MINDED BEING like myself
       • The world is intersubjectve - there for everyone
       • There is reciprocity of perspective - people can see each other;s mental perspective
     • CHARLESWORTH (2000)
       • WORKING CLASS EXPERIENCE
         • working class men in Rotherham
   • GOES BEYOND INDIVIDUAL-SOCIETY DUALISM
     • individual + social = LIFEWORLD
     • POWER IN EXPERIENCE of individual being empowered or diempowered

4. THE SOCIAL PSYCHOANALYTIC SELF

   • UNCONSCIOUS information about HIDDEN SELF
     • INTERSUBJECTIVITY
       • Self is made up from introjected parts which flow dynamically between people
       • Focus is on the UNCONSCIOUS
   • HOLLWAY & JEFFERSON, (2005)
     • VINCE'S CHOICE
       • FREE ASSOCIATION - Goes beyond conscious intention and restrictions of semi-structured interviews
         • Allows Vince to structure his own story and UNCONSCIOUS MOTIVATIONS
           • Only FREE ASSOCIATION can do this
     • TURP (2004)
       • ESTHER'S SELF WORTH
         • She has INTROJECTED a GOOD OBJECT (her Father's pleasure)
           • NON-LINGUISTIC, UNSELFCONSCIOUS aspects of self are expressed through THE BODY (e.g. rubbing noses)
   • Mainstream
     • Vince is a hardworking man forced to stop work through illness
   • Social Psychoanalytic
     • Vince got what he wanted through the body
     • HIS CONFLICT- He fears not having a job VS. He hates his job
       • MIND/BODY SPLIT
   • Intersubjectivity goes beyond INDIVIDUAL-SOCIETY DUALISM
     • POWER lies within the UNCONSCIOUS
       • The Mind/Body split goes beyond AGENCY- STRUCTURE DUALISM