Concepts in Emile Durkheim and in Erving Goffmans Theories of Interaction Ritual - Essay Example

? Introduction I would like to write about an experience I had over two years ago. It involved joining a community organization whose purpose was to tutor African American elementary school youth in the inner city. I am going to write about the first day introduction and training session for the tutors. I believe I can now show that this session consisted of several chains of interaction rituals that led to group solidarity, or a "collective effervescence", that was interestingly based on group created symbols and symbolism. The experience was all the more profound for me as I was an 'outsider' or a person who I thought would be unlike the people who had already been tutors and who were insiders. For myself, I found out how a functioning community could be formed with a purpose and over a certain moral outlook. I believe Randall Collins helped me to view my experience as stemming from certain concepts in Emile Durkheim and in Erving Goffman's theories of interaction ritual. Discussion Randall Collins outlined several important points of Durkheim in going over the recent history of sociology, its theory, and while also developing the theories of Erving Goffman interaction ritual. I stood as an 'outsider' that one day before walking up the stairs to the meeting room of the organization which I should call here the Volunteer Tutor Society (VTS). The organization had a good track record. It had placed groups of trained volunteers into several elementary schools of the city's African American community to conduct hour long tutoring sessions with groups of African American students who were in need. I saw myself as an 'outsider' who sought to become a member of 'insiders', a group that was already socially functioning. In Collins' words I sought the social situation in which "individuality and egotism are oriented toward socially constructed goals" (p. 22). There was a situational reality that was taking place. It was one VTS had already formed from which they reflected a successful record with over several years of contracts with the city's school administration. I wasn't aware of all the challenges, but I knew there were many in educating the youth. Also I wasn't particularly a racially minded individual, although I had friends who would have questioned my motives and who would have probably criticized me. I wasn't the 'do-goody' type and was actually rather shy. But I have always been a person of purpose and I was intent on doing my so-called part in changing the world. All of these things were going through my mind as I entered the room. The room was filled. There were a few people sitting at long tables at the front facing the audience of about 50 or 60-so people sitting on unfolded metal chairs. I immediately felt a difference as most of the people were African American women of different colors. From the way they dressed, I could see most of them were professionals or middle class. There were also a few African American men, young and old and dressed all kinds of ways. Some seemed to have just come from a good job and some looked as if they had come from the community, dressed plain. One person was dressed in African garb. The ages were from young to what seemed like old and retired age. This wasn't the first time I had been with this group of people, as we had all met a few weeks ago to take tests. The ones present, and myself, had apparently passed the tests. But what was most interesting about the group was that there were other 'outsiders' like myself. There were even a couple of oriental faces, and there were whites, a couple of white men and three white women, me being the fourth. I took a seat, waiting in anticipation for what would happen. I guessed I had gotten there just in time for things to start. People were tossing empty cups of coffee into the trash or setting back into their seats with napkins of cookies. A young woman entered from a side room that had the administrative office and I immediately recognized her as the operating manager. What was strange was that she was white and also I had the feeling that she was lesbian. Many people recognized and greeted her. She explained the meeting would be started without the head guy, the leader of the community group, as he was running late, but would be there shortly. She then introduced a woman sitting with others at the front. This lady, 'Betty', then got up and gave a short speech identifying us as the group who had passed the tests and who would be currently taking the Volunteer Tutor Society forward into its new year. Betty then explained some of the accomplishments of VTS, how it had managed to survive in the community and stayed over a number of years. She pointed to some of the veterans, and there were many in the audience. She then explained some graph like figures on a large wall poster that showed how many youth were not graduating and how many youth were dying due to black-on-black crime. During her speech I began to feel a change as I looked around at the people I had joined. No one was eyeing me any differently. I saw the large poster on the wall. It was handmade and it had black silhouetted figures of youth. I was beginning to take an emotional feeling from this poster of youth death and youth failure. I knew I had to do something and that I was with people who knew the same thing. As far as I was concerned, outside it was a different world and that I was then in a world where I was experiencing a new social construction of myself. Collins quotes Durkheim in the way of building a situation of collective effervescence. If the communication is established between them is to become a real communion, that is to say, a fusion of all particular sentiments into one common sentiment, the signs expressing them must themselves be fused in one single and unique resultant. It is the appearance of this that informs individuals that they are in harmony and makes them conscious of their moral unity (p. 35). I believe we were all from that point of Betty's speech elaborating the meaning of the poster, reaching a point of group solidarity. During the course of this first session we went through several what I could call now, interaction rituals. We started with an ice-breaker sought of thing. I can't really remember all the details. But for a few minutes the group relaxed by talking to each other, trying to remember certain facts from quick conversations. Then we all set down and somehow used that information that was recalled from memory, to introduce ourselves to each other. The point is that we were all cooperating with each other. We had accepted so called 'rules' of VTS, certain principles, and we all began to share a common outlook and view that differed from the outside world. The incredible kind of symbolism began when the Executive Director showed up. Mr. Wilson was a small man but with a lot of powerful energy. He came in shouting the slogan, "Education is Power! Education is Power!" And suddenly I felt a surge of energy. This was certainly the Emotional Energy which Collins wrote about, based, I believe on Erving Goffman. Collins says, "Collective effervescence is a momentary state, but it carries over into more prolonged effects when it becomes embodied in sentiments of group solidarity, symbols or sacred objects, and individual emotional energy" (p. 36). The motto was certainly one of the signs that fused us all into one common sentiment, from which we could have one collective effervescence. Conclusion Several events happened during the training which placed us in "a process of intensification of shared experience," Durkheim's collective effervescence. I must point out that there were points of 'difference' that I had felt, as such when an African American man made a comment about whites moving back into the neighborhood and gentrifying it. But interestingly I could feel a warmth and support from practically all the people there, and what would have been an insult to me was actually "done within the expectable flow of conversation moves, inserting meanings so that on one level it remains appropriate" (p. 21). Collins made this observation. It is made to show that a group has been formed and that conflicting interests within our situational performance were "tacitly managed" (p. 21). I was a new member of a strong purposeful group. Collins, R. (2005). Interaction ritual chains. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Read More