Sociology of Emotions - Essay Example

? Sociology of Emotions Sociology of Emotions How do Wetherell’s and Burkitt’s (2002) respective approaches to affect promote an understanding of emotions as social and embodied, habitual, and creative? Affect is defined in the English dictionary as acting upon or influencing in an adverse way. It could also refer to the natural and habitual inclination of an object towards another (Merriam-Webster Online). Affect, in sociology, has to do with rational individual human emotions and matters of physical disturbance. Wetherell (2012, 2), in her definition of affect describes it as having to do with the physical disturbances and destabilizations it brings about to the body, as opposed to the feelings. This concept has been studied separately by Wetherell (2012) and Burkitt (2002). They approach the subject matter differently. This essay seeks to study their respective approaches and how they relate to emotions as social, embodied, habitual and creative. Burkitt (2002, 153), in his work refers to the complexity of emotions. His work mainly studies the work of Vygostky on the matter. He starts by pointing out that the words used to descried emotion do indeed attach a meaning to the state of emotions while dictating how people feel in certain contexts (Burkitt, 2002, 152). In his work, he maintains that while research suggests that feelings are an object within the individual, this is not essentially true. He states that emotions are social and habitual, in that, feelings such as anger and fear are a response to certain situation or to the events of the world as opposed to findings emanating from research. Therefore, his approach to affect is that it is not an object within an individual, but it is highly interactive with the rest of the world, with their surroundings (Burkitt, 2002). Emotion, according to Burkitt, hides away in the warranted responses and from there can evolve into feelings, which, according to him, are an indicator of cognition. Cognition emanates from being aware of usual happenings. Therefore, in this, Burkitt brings out the tendency of emotion to be habitual. Responses are programmed into an individual. Affect warrants a certain kind of emotion in the subject. This is an observation with which Wetherell (2012, 24) concurs when she points out that emotions are in fact patterns of relations to the environment around that are often left unmentioned, are an integral part of day-to-day living and yet are imbedded in the human senses. These emotions, according to Wetherell play a part that cannot be ignored. She points out that in social life; they act as guides for appropriate action (Wetherell, 2002, 15) Burkitt (2002, 161) adds that feelings and emotions, as a function of affect, are felt prior to articulation. This is such that in articulating emotion, one is not only starting to experience them; it is rather a final step in the experiencing of feelings of anger, frustration, hurt, among other emotions. This is emphasized by Wetherell (2012, 20) when she points out that affect is the commencement of documenting the feelings that are embodied in the subjects. The work done by Burkitt and Wetherell are both instrumental in presenting affect as a basis for the social, embodied, habitual and creative aspects of emotions. As a social, emotion is presented as being anything but relational. This is whereby emotion occurs as a reaction to the occurrences in the immediate surroundings of an individual. This is as opposed to emotion emanating from within. As embodied, emotion is part of the actions of the subject. Emotion is habitual in that it comes about as a function of affect. Certain actions are prone to inspire certain emotions within the individuals. However, this is not always the case, hence the creative aspect. Burkitt’s approach to affect dwells on exploring the complexity of human emotions. He reiterates that emotions are simply responses to the happenings in the world around. Wetherell’s work is an emphasis to Burkitt’s, where she points out that human emotions are imbedded in people, to cause them to react to the world in a certain way. 2. Basic ways in which emotions are involved in the dynamics of social movements according to Goodwin and Jasper (2007) and Whittier (2001) Emotion forms a major part of the dynamics behind social movement. As literature reveals, there is barely any change whether radical or otherwise, that is not based on a set of emotions in the responsible parties. Goodwin and Jasper (2007) highlight this fact in their paper on emotions and its impact to social movement, this topic is also covered by Whittier (2001) as she covers the emotional strategies behind the movement against child abuse. This essay studies their work and highlights the role of emotions in positive social change socially and politically, and also studies emotion in advocacy against child molestation. Emotion is the driving force behind political action and other progressive changes in the society. As Goodwin and Jasper (2007, 612) indicate in their work, since the beginning of time, political change in the society has been as a result of collective action by crowds. These crowds took on their role as agents of change following a series of oppressive policies the aroused emotions of anger and frustration. Consequently, it led to uprisings that necessitated changes in favor of the citizens. According to Goodwin and Jasper (2007, 613), the decision to participate in uprisings is one that is compulsory rather than made out of enjoyment. The individual emotions of the mob seem to be contagious to the extent that the mood catches on, necessitating revolution widely. Apart from political uprisings, there have been other forms of social movement over the past that have been as a result of emotion. For example, unjust administrations and unfair rulings by courts have been called to question following a sense of disappointment and anger by citizens. These frames of injustice have the effect of arousing feelings of restlessness, anger and suspicion among subjects, which consequently bring about movements that are intended to quell the anger of the people. Activism, for example, has been born out of a sense of frustration and wounded egos. One of the examples given by Goodwin and Jasper (2007, 621) is that of a rise in women activists. They point out that various groups with a need to be recognized revolt out of anger and frustration. This is the case with the women activist movement and other movements such as those to do with moral work, which are primarily motivated by feelings of sympathy. The Anglican Church was at the forefront in the struggle in opposition to slavery, due to emotions to do with sympathy towards slaves, couple with accountability to God to abolish slavery. Goodwin and Jasper (2007, 619) acknowledge that radical groups such as the Ku Klux Klax Clan are born out of their ability to ignite the right emotions in their members and convince them that their actions are in fact for the betterment of their community. Whittier’s work examines the oppositional emotions in the fight to end sexual abuse in children. Her study is based on past victims’ attitudes towards their ordeals. She calls attention to the fact that these matured victims involved in the advocacy for an end to child abuse tend to adopt attitudes of joy, anger, a sense of connection to others and pride. These are attributes that the victims feel that they were robbed of as children, when all they could feel was dread, pain and shame (Whittier, 2001, 236). Whittier points out that the activists engage in an open display of emotions. For internal movements, the activists engage in oppositional emotions. They also practice emotional labour, whereby they try to elicit certain feeling in the onlookers through being in control or managing their own emotions. Finally, activists operate according to their own personal feelings, brought about by their personal experiences. In a bid to end the silence that envelopes molested children the activists also encourage the victims to speak out on the kinds of emotions that memories of the molestation bring about, with some of the activists speaking out on feelings of unfounded fear they still feel to date, or their anger and disappointment towards the object of their pain. From the discussed literature, there is positive change that can be brought about as a result of anger and frustration, for example activism against slavery. Whittier talks of the emotions involved in the fight against child molestation, bringing out the role of the various forms of emotion, such emotional labor to encourage opening up in the victims of child molestation. The residual effects of child molestation, according to the discussion, are replaced with more positive emotions that seek to get other parties to open up about their plights. . 3. Explain Scheff’s (1990) approach to shame and how it informs Stein’s (2001) analysis of a group of Christian activists. Scheff (1990) studies shame and anger in his work. One of the suggestions of Scheff’s work is that shame is more a factor of how one perceives other individuals to be viewing them, as opposed to guilt, which often is based on reflection over one’s own actions. Scheff, in his study, engages the works of different researchers, including Durkheim and Lewis, in a bid to highlight the forms and indicators of shame. Stein (2001), basing his work on Scheff’s conclusions, studies the tendencies of Christian activists. This essay highlights the link between shame as presented in Scheff’s work and the study undertaken by Stein on shame in Christian activists, pointing out a few forms and characteristics of shame. One of the most outstanding facts about shame in Scheff’s work is the pervasive unwillingness of adults feeling shame to actually come out and admit it (Scheff, 1990, 79). This, he attributes to the fact that shame is often viewed as a childish and unacceptable emotion among adults. In his work, Scheff (1990, 84) maintains that shame comes in two forms, that which is acknowledged, and that which is not. These are more formally referred to as overt and undifferentiated or covert shame. Overt shame is verbalized shame, where subjects come out and out rightly admit to feeling ashamed. Covert shame is the unacknowledged shame, whereby subjects refuse to acknowledge feelings of shame, but will display the common indicators of persons that are feeling ashamed. These include hiding behavior, where the subject attempts to distance themselves from the person igniting feelings of shame in them, and also, the subject goes into a state of insoluble dilemma, where they cannot seem to make decisions as rapidly. Shame, according to Scheff’s work is not only a biological feeling, but also arising from social interactions and culture. According to him, a social emotion comes out of an individual’s observation of how others view them. These findings form the basis for Stein’s work, where he studies the aspect of shame as pertains to Christian activists. Stein (2001, 115) opens by pointing out that conservative Christians share the belief that they have a duty to correct the immorality in the world by way of strictness in their morals and values. Stein defines shame as a prevalent emotion that has the power to influence normal interactions. His work is characterized by numerous studies of conservative Christians. As he outlines his findings, he reiterates that the prevalent emotion exhibited among the interviewees is that of shame. Even so, he points out that there is a tendency by this group of people to refrain from admitting weakness; to avoid coming out and admitting they are ashamed (Stein, 2001, 118). One would then wonder how Stein deduces that they are ashamed. This is where Scheff’s work comes in. Stein points out that the activists display signs associated with unacknowledged shame. The interviewed activists tend to engage in rapid speech, they shy away from looking the interviewer, that is, they avert their eyes. In addition, they do not, under any circumstances openly acknowledge that some of their actions ignite feelings of embarrassment in them, their speech displays signs of an individual that feels victimized, and they engage in a lot of talk, some of which seems like an outright deviation from the topic at hand and consequently pointless. According to activists, they are fighting the good fight in order to save a depraved culture. Related to this is their nature to point out their “past” weaknesses that they have supposedly been delivered from. These include poverty, illiteracy, illness, dysfunctional families and a general lack of sophistication (Stein, 2001, 122). They talk about how they have had to struggle on their own to get out of these horrible situations, while the rest of the world continues to acquire help that they in fact do not deserve. They feel persecuted by the rest of the world. One of the underlying principles of the paper is that shame often goes unacknowledged. The subjects of Stein’s studies present this clearly, highlighting some of the tendencies of people that are feeling ashamed to present symptoms such as rapid and obsessive discussion, averted eyes and a sense of victimization, which is the very basis of the work done by Scheff. By this, the two authors are able to highlight the characteristics of unarticulated shame, getting down to the signs in more specific groups, such as Christian activists. References Affect [Def. 1]. (n.d.). Merriam-Webster Online. In Merriam-Webster. Retrieved October 11, 2013, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/citation. Burkitt, I. (2002). Complex Emotions: Relations, Feelings,and Images in Emotional Experience: Emotions and sociology. J.Barbalet (Ed). Oxford: Blackwell. Goodwin, J. and Jasper, J., M. (2007). Emotions and Social Movements: Handbook of the Sociology of Emotions. J. E. Stets and J., H., Turner (Eds). New York: Springer. Scheff, T. J. (1990). Shame and Conformity: The Deference-Emotion System. Microsociology: Discourse, Emotion, and Social Structure. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. Stein, A. (2001).Revenge of the Shamed: The Christian Right's Emotional Culture War. Passionate Politics: Emotions and Social Movements. J. Goodwin and J. M. Jasper (Eds) Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. Wetherell, M. (2012).Introduction Affect: Lines of Agreement. Affect and Emotion: A New Social Science Understanding. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. Whittier, N. (2001).Emotional Strategies: The collective Reconstruction and Display of Oppositional Emotions in the movement Against Child Sexual Abuse. Passionate Politics: Emotions and Social Movements. J. Goodwin, J. M.Jasper, and F. Polletta. (Eds). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. Read More