Presentation
Person Construction: Insight into Sociology's Bottom Line.pdf
Alpha Kappa Delta Sociological Research Symposium
(1972)
Abstract
Much sociological research of the last several decades has viewed ordinary social behavior as problematic, revealing it to be the construct of artful assembly. These studies suggest that there are several layers of normative orders relied upon by persons to instruct their activities. Such normative orders are present in therapeutic dyads and therapeutic groups, both of which rely on some version of "transference" to accomplish their goals. Transference, like much else of what occurs within therapy settings, can usefully be examined in terms of role theory. These therapy settings reveal the prospect that there may be one basic and generic role which all social actors must play, that of a "person, as such"; what Alfred Schutz called the "grown-up, wide-awake man within the natural attitude." If this is so, then therapy settings may be critical sites for the understanding of how such a fundamental and perhaps irreducible role comes to be constructed and acted upon.
Keywords
- Sociology,
- Identity,
- Therapy
Disciplines
Publication Date
April, 1972
Location
Richmond, VA
Comments
This is an extensive revision of "Therapeutic Dyads and Groups as Opportunities for the Revelation of Person Construction", a presentation read at the annual meetings of the Alpha Kappa Delta Sociological Research Symposium, RichÂmond, VA., April 1972.
Citation Information
Michael A Toth. "Person Construction: Insight into Sociology's Bottom Line.pdf" Alpha Kappa Delta Sociological Research Symposium (1972) Available at: http://works.bepress.com/michael-toth/17/