Encounters; Two Studies in the Sociology of Interaction

by Erving Goffman

Preface

The study of every unit of social organization must eventually lead to an analysis of the interaction of its elements. The analytical distinction between units of organization and processes of interaction is, therefore, not destined to divide up our work for us. A division of labor seems more likely to come from distinguishing among types of units, among types of elements, or among types of processes.

Sociologists have traditionally studied face-to-face interaction as part of the area of “collective behavior”; the units of social organization involved are those that can form by virtue of a breakdown in ordinary social intercourse: crowds, mobs, panics, riots. The other aspect of the problem of face-to-face interaction—the units of organization in which orderly and uneventful face-to-face interaction occurs—has been neglected until recently, although there is some early work on classroom interaction, topics of conversation, committee meetings, and public assemblies.

Instead of dividing face-to-face interaction into the eventful and the routine, I propose a different division—into unfocused interaction and focused interaction. Unfocused interaction consists of those interpersonal communications that result solely by virtue of persons being in one another’s presence, as when two strangers across the room from each other check up on each other’s clothing, posture, and general manner, while each modifies his own demeanor because he himself is under observation. Focused interaction occurs when people effectively agree to sustain for a time a single focus of cognitive and visual attention, as in a conversation, a board game, or a joint task sustained by a close face-to-face circle of contributors. Those sustaining together a single focus of attention will, of course, engage one another in unfocused interaction, too. They will not do so in their capacity as participants in the focused activity, however, and persons present who are not in the focused activity will equally participate in this unfocused interaction.

The two papers in this volume are concerned with focused interaction only. I call the natural unit of social organization in which focused interaction occurs a focused gathering, or an encounter, or a situated activity system. I assume that instances of this natural unit have enough in common to make it worthwhile to study them as a type. Three different terms are used out of desperation rather than by design; as will be suggested, each of the three in its own way is unsatisfactory, and each is satisfactory in a way that the others are not. The two essays deal from different points of view with this single unit of social organization. The first paper, “Fun in Games,” approaches focused gatherings from an examination of the kind of games that are played around a table. The second paper, “Role Distance,” approaches focused gatherings through a review and criticism of social-role analysis.

The study of focused gatherings has been greatly stimulated recently by the study of group psychotherapy and especially by “small-group analysis.” I feel, however, that full use of this work is impeded by a current tendency to identify focused gatherings too easily with social groups. A small but interesting area of study is thus obscured by the biggest title, “social group,” that can be found for it.

Genres: Sociology, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Psychology, Anthropology

124 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1961

About the author

Erving Goffman was a Canadian-born American sociologist, social psychologist, and writer, considered by some "the most influential American sociologist of the twentieth century".
In 2007, The Times Higher Education Guide listed him as the sixth most-cited author of books in the humanities and social sciences.
Goffman was the 73rd president of the American Sociological Association. His best-known contribution to social theory is his study of symbolic interaction. This took the form of dramaturgical analysis, beginning with his 1956 book The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. Goffman's other major works include Asylums (1961), Stigma (1963), Interaction Ritual (1967), Frame Analysis (1974), and Forms of Talk (1981). His major areas of study included the sociology of everyday life, social interaction, the social construction of self, social organization (framing) of experience, and particular elements of social life such as total institutions and stigmas.

Reviews

[Nicolás Rivas · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the second book I read by Goffman, and I'm still impressed by his thoughts. Two ideas captivate me. The first one is the atomistic belief that sociology could learn a lot from the study of the basic interactions of humans beings. If someone tomorrow would tell me that my mission for the next 10 years is to write a sociological study I would start with that atomistic premise. If someone tomorrow would tell me that my mission for the next 10 years is to write a sociological study, I would start with that premise, a reduction not to individuals and their passions, a la Locke and others, but to the basic interactions between humans. I would do this mainly because I'm a scientist and I thus have a completely irrational belief in reduction. But also because studies of the everyday will definitely be more relevant for—guess what—the everyday of common people, and could even get to be useful. Actually, one direct consequence of reading Goffman can be a notorious alteration of our social interactions. If our mind happens to remember anything that we read from him when in the middle of a conversation, or say while playing a game—the situation covered by the best essay of the book—then we'll be immediately transported to a new dimension of thought, where we'll almost be able to hear the coughing of the audience looking at us, at the stage, representing.

The second idea that convinces me in Goffman's writings is precisely this, its mapping of human interactions to theater. It doesn't follow the obvious route of personality and characters, but a more broad and spacial aspect of stage, audience, entrances and exits. It goes beyond one-to-one, more psychological relations to explore the dynamics of our roles and the conditions and consequences of absorption; how we constantly play with our level of involvement, a sequence of layers that seem to lead to theater itself: the game of endless masks. It's a seductive read, a bait for the mind suggesting a new world of ideas with which to sprinkle even the most boring social situations. And it's also inspiring for anyone who still, maybe, perhaps, believes in change from bottom-up.

[Diana180]

Excellent, core Goffman, a good review of his game and dramaturgical metaphors. "Fun in Games" is about the game-internal and game-external conditions necessary for flow and absorption in a game or other face-to-face activity. "Role Distance" is about why it's rare to own your role completely. He didn't believe in well-integrated consistent personalities, that's for sure.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Goffman's writings on the workings of the interaction order are deservedly classics, and are immensely readable. They still have a lot to offer, though it can't be denied they are of their time.

[Jack Mikuszewski · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘To be awkward or unkempt, to talk or move wrongly, is to be a dangerous giant, a destroyer of worlds.’ - Never before have I felt this empowered by a book.

[Artur]

Goffman jak zawsze, jak tosty z serem po ciężkim dniu.