Abstract
Even the critics of Goffman agree he is ‘an extremely sensitive and acute observer of human interaction’.1 His declared interest is ‘ordinary, actual behaviour’ (1974, p. 564), and his main concern that sociologists should never lose sight of the significance of the observable complexities of concrete conduct for an understanding of human nature and social order.2 Throughout his work Goffman presents himself in the role of a committed social scientist, engaged in the business of unravelling the tangled skein of micro-interaction in an attempt to bring us closer to an awareness of the intricate principles of social organisation upon which orderly lives depend. In this chapter I shall consider certain of the insights his particular brand of sociology offers into processes of social control, and some of their implications for a fuller appreciation of the delicate balance we daily maintain between deviance and normality.
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Chapter Endnotes
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© 1980 Mike Hepworth
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Hepworth, M. (1980). Deviance and Control in Everyday Life: The Contribution of Erving Goffman. In: Ditton, J. (eds) The View from Goffman. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-16268-0_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-16268-0_4
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