Social identity: understanding ourselves and who we are in relation to other people or groups. e.g. social class, gender and ethnicity.
Changes as we age. Constantly negotiating who we are in relation to other people. The social roles we occupy have a strong influence on our social identity.
Various norms and values are associated with certain roles, e.g. beoming a parent.
Goffman 1963 analysed the difficulties that some groups face in constructing a positive social identity. Three main characteristics that form social stigma: physical defects, personal weaknesses (e.g. criminal record) and social stigmas such as membership of a religious or ethnic group. Some visable, some not so apparent. Strategies to try and adobt a positive social idenity:
- Attempts to hide the stigma, could even be cosmetic surgery
- Admitting the stigma and accepting help from a professional
- Protests against the stigma
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