Goffman, Erving (1922–1982)

Smith, GWH

Abstract

This entry outlines Goffman’s biography, sketches the importance of the intellectual and social contexts provided by the universities of Toronto and Chicago where Goffman studied in the 1940s and 1950s, and summarizes his major substantive contributions (dramaturgy, the interaction order, the significance of the ritual dimension, his treatments of mental patients, the stigmatized, gender, and the concept of frame and the framing process). The continuing relevance of Goffman’s ideas to contemporary sociology is examined.

Keywords: Chicago School; Cooley, Charles Horton; deviance and social control; Durkheim, Émile; identity; interactional sociology; Mead, George Herbert; Simmel, Georg; Thomas, William I.

Citation

Smith, G. (2007). Goffman, Erving (1922–1982). In The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology. New York: Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1111/b.9781405124331.2007.x

• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2007
• Deposit Date: Jun 15, 2016
• Book Title: The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology
• ISBN: 9781405124331
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/b.9781405124331.2007.x
• Publisher URL: http://www.sociologyencyclopedia.com/