scholarly journals “I STARTED THE DAY JUST CRYING FOR 2 HOURS STRAIGHT.” ECHO-LOCATING THE VULNERABLE SELF ON INSTAGRAM.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Schreiber
Keyword(s):  
The Self ◽  
Symbolic Interactionist ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Mental Functions ◽  
Extreme Form ◽  
Ethnographic Fieldwork ◽  
Self And Identity ◽  
Interactionist Perspective ◽  
Body Self ◽  
Related Identity

Building on previous online-ethnographic fieldwork on the #strokesurvivor-community on Instagram, this contribution dives deeper into practices of echo-locating (Markham 2020) the vulnerable self on Instagram. This paper aims to reconstruct practices of adapting to a new body, identity and self through communicating on Instagram from a symbolic-interactionist perspective. I build on Goffman’s concept of stigma, Charmaz’ studies on adapting to illness and impairment and use the lens of Markham’s (2020) concept of echo-locating the self through online connection, Based on close readings and interpretations of postings, including pictures, captions and comments, as well as interviews with active community members, two critical antipodes of sense- and self-making in the #strokesurvivor-community emerged: First, mourning the loss of the familiar body, self, and identity and related identity goals. Users seek permission to mourn and also validation for their grief through their postings and comments. Second, and probably oppositional, perseverance, or in its extreme form, toxic positivity - this concept refers to a (more or less forced) attitude of optimism while ignoring valid reasons to actually not be positive, a mindset that seems to be embedded in a “contemporary cult of happiness” (Wright 2014) and cruel optimism (Berlant 2010). In the #strokesurvivor-community, a positive mindset and belief in the possibility of regaining physical and mental functions is a recurring theme and strong imperative. The contribution focuses on the reconstruction of patterns and practices of mourning and perseverance and their relevance to the echo-location of the vulnerable self.

Identity and the Self in Elderly Adults with Alzheimer’s Disease

2019 ◽  
pp. 381-401 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda Francis ◽  
Richard E. Adams ◽  
Alexandra König ◽  
Jesse Hoey
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Social Process ◽  
Qualitative Interview ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Self ◽  
Symbolic Interactionist ◽  
Gradual Loss ◽  
Interactionist Perspective

Alzheimer’s disease is characterized by the gradual loss of memory, ultimately progressing to forgetting who one is and has been. From a symbolic interactionist perspective, the progression of this disease raises the question of what happens to the “self” as part of an interactive social process with others. Our exploratory study of elders with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s indicates that, while identities grounded in memories and roles will fade as a person loses their ability to remember people and events, habitual and behavioral aspects of identity that reflect one’s personhood may persist longer. Thirty-two elders in Canada and the United States, plus 20 of their caregivers, participated in a qualitative interview. Results indicated that even people with very impaired memory still reacted to situations in ways congruent with their past identities, although they often did not remember the identities themselves. Viewing this phenomenon sociologically informs our understanding of the formation and disintegration of self.

The Mask of Dementia: Images of ‘Demented Residents’ in a Nursing Ward

1996 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 269-285 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hava Golander ◽  
Aviad E. Raz
Keyword(s):  
Social Identity ◽  
Social Construction ◽  
Social Identities ◽  
Symbolic Interactionist ◽  
Psychological Constructs ◽  
Ethnographic Fieldwork ◽  
The Social ◽  
Interactionist Perspective ◽  
Nursing Ward

ABSTRACTA description of the social construction of dementia among elderly residents of a nursing ward is offered, based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in an Israeli geriatric centre. This account focuses on the construction of positive social identities and the ascription of roles for residents labelled as ‘demented’. The findings illustrate the split between personal and social identity in dementia. The applicability of conventional socio-psychological constructs such as ‘I’ and ‘me’ regarding dementia is questioned, as the spoken manifestations of these constructs is critically examined from a symbolic interactionist perspective.

The meaning of stigma: identity construction in two old-age institutions

2006 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 355-371 ◽  
Author(s):  
TOVA GAMLIEL ◽  
HAIM HAZAN
Keyword(s):  
Older People ◽  
Identity Construction ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
The Self ◽  
Sheltered Housing ◽  
Housing Project ◽  
Symbolic Interactionist ◽  
Interactionist Perspective ◽  
Definition Of

People in advanced old age with frailties and those who are resident in old-age institutions manage their identities within the constraints of stigmatised settings. This paper compares the processes of identity construction in an old-age home and in a sheltered housing project for older people in Israel. Applying a symbolic-interactionist perspective that sees old-age institutions as social arenas for the reconstruction of identity, the paper first distinguishes the residents' constructions of stigma and deviance. While the old-age home residents collectively turned their stigma into a source of positive labelling, the sheltered housing residents drew advantages from their previous roles and statuses. Gossip is shown to play a critical role in reproducing stigma, particularly in the old-age home. These findings are used to demonstrate the variability and potential for adaptation among the residents – who are often stereotyped as homogeneous and passive. The paper concludes with a discussion of the literal and metaphorical languages used by older people, and of stigma as a positive instrument that can introduce content into the definition of the self.

The Dynamics of Society-in-the-Self

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hubert J. M Hermans
Keyword(s):  
Social Environment ◽  
The Self ◽  
Boundary Crossing ◽  
The World ◽  
Self And Identity ◽  
New Vision ◽  
New Phenomena ◽  
The Relationship

In the field of tension between globalization and localization, a set of new phenomena is emerging showing that society is not simply a social environment of self and identity but works in their deepest regions: self-radicalization, self-government, self-cure, self-nationalization, self-internationalization, and even self-marriage. The consequence is that the self is faced with an unprecedented density of self-parts, called I-positions in this theory. In the field of tension between boundary-crossing developments in the world and the search for an identity in a local niche, a self emerges that is characterized by a great variety of contradicting and heterogeneous I-positions and by large and unexpected jumps between different positions as the result of rapid and unexpected changes in the world. The chapter argues that such developments require a new vision of the relationship between self and society.

scholarly journals Communities and the individual: Beyond the liberal–communitarian divide

2021 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 392-401
Author(s):  
Volker Kaul
Keyword(s):  
Personal Autonomy ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Significant Others ◽  
The Self ◽  
Global Perspective ◽  
Self And Identity ◽  
Default Position ◽  
The Individual

Liberalism believes that individuals are endowed a priori with reason or at least agency and it is up to that reason and agency to make choices, commitments and so on. Communitarianism criticizes liberalism’s explicit and deliberate neglect of the self and insists that we attain a self and identity only through the effective recognition of significant others. However, personal autonomy does not seem to be a default position, neither reason nor community is going to provide it inevitably. Therefore, it is so important to go beyond the liberal–communitarian divide. This article is analysing various proposals in this direction, asks about the place of communities and the individual in times of populism and the pandemic and provides a global perspective on the liberal–communitarian debate.

Effect of Exposure to Photographs of Thin Models on Self-Consciousness in Female College Students

2000 ◽  
Vol 86 (3_part_2) ◽  
pp. 1149-1154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brandy S. Wegner ◽  
Anita M. Hartmann ◽  
C. R. Geist
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
College Women ◽  
Print Media ◽  
The Body ◽  
The Self ◽  
Female College Students ◽  
Female College ◽  
Body Self

The purpose of this study was to assess the immediate influence of brief exposure to images taken from print media on the general self-consciousness and body self-consciousness of 67 college women. After viewing photographs of either thin female models or control photographs, the women completed the Self-consciousness Scale and the Body Self-consciousness Questionnaire. Although a was .45, the college women who looked at images of thin female models gave immediate ratings significantly ( p < .001) higher on both general Self-consciousness and Body Self-consciousness than those who looked at control images.

scholarly journals The Presentation of Self in Emigration

2012 ◽  
Vol 642 (1) ◽  
pp. 186-199 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martina Cvajner
Keyword(s):  
Market Economy ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Social Stigma ◽  
The Self ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
Presentation Of Self ◽  
Ethnographic Fieldwork ◽  
Care Workers ◽  
The Social ◽  
Eastern European Immigrant

This article, based on five years of ethnographic fieldwork, describes the strategies for the presentation of the Self employed by Eastern European immigrant women in the Italian northeast. These middle-aged women migrated alone, are employed as live-in care workers, and often lack legal status. For them, migration is a deeply felt trauma, which they narrate as being forced upon them by the collapse of the USSR and the failures of the transition to a market economy. They perceive their life in Italy as degrading, their work is stressful and undignified, they miss their children, and they are often seen as poor mothers with questionable morals. Consequently, they seek to dilute the social stigma, presenting positive images of their selves and claiming respect from a variety of audiences. The women continuously endeavor to define their current condition as accidental and temporary and to assert their right to a better future.

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