The Activation and Restoration of Shame in an Intimate Relationship: A First-Hand Account of Self-Injury
30 Apr 2021-Qualitative sociology review (Uniwersytet Lodzki (University of Lodz))-Vol. 17, Iss: 2, pp 104-121
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore the process of shame and shame reactions in an intimate relationship, and illustrate how shame was activated by my internalized critical other, how the shame cycle de-stabilized my relationship and finally how shame is restored through the other's validation and acceptance, or how it led to more shame managed by self-injury.
Abstract: This paper is grounded in a first-hand account of my own experiences with self-injury and shame. By using my personal diary entries as support for this account and a sociological framework of shame, I explore the process of shame and shame reactions in an intimate relationship. I illustrate how shame was activated by my internalized critical other, how the shame cycle de-stabilized my relationship, and, finally, how shame was restored through the other’s validation and acceptance, or how it led to more shame managed by self-injury. However, this account is not simply about self-analysis, or a need to indulge in my pain; rather, it is an inner dialogue that rests on the commitment to develop a richer understanding of the personal and interpersonal experiences of self-injury and shame. Today, I finally understand how shame works and this has helped me to not get caught up in my emotions. So, although shame may take a hold of me at times, I am no longer, like before, controlled by my shame.
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TL;DR: Thorndike as discussed by the authors argues that the relative immaturity of the sciences dealing with man is continually stressed, but it is claimed that they provide a body of facts and principles which are "far above zero knowledge" and that even now they are capable of affording valuable guidance in the shaping of public policy.
Abstract: “WHAT can men do, what do they do, and what do they want to do ?”—these are the uestions that Prof. Thorndike seeks to answer in a very comprehensive and elaborate treatise. His undertaking is inspired by the belief that man has the possibility of almost complete control of his fate if only he will be guided by science, and that his failures are attributable to ignorance or folly. The main approach is through biological psychology, but all the social sciences are appealed to and utilized in an effort to deal with the human problem as a whole. The relative immaturity of the sciences dealing with man is continually stressed, but it is claimed that they provide a body of facts and principles which are “far above zero knowledge”, and that even now they are capable of affording valuable guidance in the shaping of public policy. Human Nature and the Social Order By E. L. Thorndike. Pp. xx + 1020. (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1940.) 18s. net.
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73 citations
TL;DR: The sociological interest in nonsuicidal self-injury is over 20 years old, and the last decade shows a marked increase in journal articles and research monographs as discussed by the authors .
Abstract: Sociological interest in nonsuicidal self-injury is over 20 years old, and the last decade shows a marked increase in journal articles and research monographs. Here, we survey and critically evaluate this growing sociology of self-injury, providing a short history of its development, and describing the focus of four contrasting approaches used in exploring a sociology of such a private practice: institutional interactions; processes of social construal and construction; the social in the lived experience of subjects; and the role of social relations and communication. We argue that these approaches in the sociology of self-injury more generally represent four broader social theoretical perspectives on how the personal is always-already social. Understanding this connection between the empirical search for the social in self-injury, and theoretical conceptualizations of the social in the personal, is key to opening up the future of the sociology of self-injury, and appreciating what it has to offer sociology more generally. The more we understand what is social in self-injury, the more we will understand how the personal is always-already social; and the greater the theoretical investment in our methodological apparatus, the more we will be able to detect and comprehend the social dimension of this intensely personal practice.
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the relationship between information control and personal identity, including the Discredited and the Discreditable Social Information Visibility Personal Identity Biography Biographical Others Passing Techniques of Information Control Covering.
Abstract: CONTENTS 1. Stigma and Social Identity Preliminary Conceptions The Own and the Wise Moral Career 2. Information Control and Personal Identity The Discredited and the Discreditable Social Information Visibility Personal Identity Biography Biographical Others Passing Techniques of Information Control Covering 3. Group Alignment and Ego Identity Ambivalence Professional Presentations In-Group Alignments Out-Group Alignments The Politics of Identity 4. The Self and Its Other Deviations and Norms The Normal Deviant Stigma and Reality 5. Deviations and Deviance
17,631 citations
Book•
01 Jan 1963
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the relationship between information control and personal identity, including the Discredited and the Discreditable Social Information Visibility Personal Identity Biography Biographical Others Passing Techniques of Information Control Covering.
Abstract: CONTENTS 1. Stigma and Social Identity Preliminary Conceptions The Own and the Wise Moral Career 2. Information Control and Personal Identity The Discredited and the Discreditable Social Information Visibility Personal Identity Biography Biographical Others Passing Techniques of Information Control Covering 3. Group Alignment and Ego Identity Ambivalence Professional Presentations In-Group Alignments Out-Group Alignments The Politics of Identity 4. The Self and Its Other Deviations and Norms The Normal Deviant Stigma and Reality 5. Deviations and Deviance
13,742 citations
Book•
01 Dec 1934
10,737 citations
"The Activation and Restoration of S..." refers background in this paper
...As humans, we are an object to ourselves (Mead 1934), meaning we can perceive ourselves, have conceptions of who we are, and communicate and act towards ourselves....
[...]
...When taking the perspective of the other (Mead 1934), it can cause a cycle of shame and self-injury that can arise in seemingly trivial situations and ordinary interactions and become self-perpetuating (Gunnarsson 2020)....
[...]
9,101 citations
Book•
01 Jan 1967
TL;DR: Goffman's Interaction Ritual as mentioned in this paper is an interesting account of daily social interaction viewed with a new perspective for the logic of our behavior in such ordinary circumstances as entering a crowded elevator or bus.
Abstract: Not then, men and their moments. Rather, moment and their men, writes Erving Goffman in the introduction to his groundbreaking 1967 Interaction Ritual , a study of face-to-face interaction in natural settings, that class of events which occurs during co-presence and by virtue of co-presence. The ultimate behavioural materials are the glances, gestures, positionings, and verbal statements that people continuously feed into situations, whether intended or not. A sociology of occasions is here advocated. Social organisation is the central theme, but what is organized is the co-mingling of persons and the temporary interactional enterprises that can arise therefrom. A normatively stabilized structure is at issue, a "social gathering", but this is a shifting entity, necessarily evanescent, created by arrivals and killed by departures. The major section of the book is the essay "Where the Action Is", drawing on Goffman's last major ethnographic project observation of Nevada casinos. Tom Burns says of Goffman's work "The eleven books form a singularly compact body of writing. All his published work was devoted to topics and themes which were closely connected, and the methodology, angles of approach and of course style of writing remained characteristically his own throughout. Interaction Ritual in particular is an interesting account of daily social interaction viewed with a new perspective for the logic of our behavior in such ordinary circumstances as entering a crowded elevator or bus." In his new introduction, Joel Best considers Goffman's work in toto and places Interaction Ritual in that total context as one of Goffman's pivotal works: oHis subject matter was unique. In sharp contrast to the natural tendency of many scholars to tackle big, important topics, Goffman was a minimalist, working on a small scale, and concentrating on the most mundane, ordinary social contacts, on everyday life.o
5,862 citations