Ritchie 2011 Presents Several Conversational Excerpts From H
Ritchie 2011 Presents Several Conversational Excerpts From His Study
Ritchie (2011) presents several conversational excerpts from his study of humor use among young adults discussing homelessness. Read the excerpts carefully and come up with your own analysis. Consider the participants as strategic actors telling “small stories,” pursuing goals, activating membership categories, drawing upon schemas, presenting selves, and using humor. Feel free to draw upon additional concepts/models/theories covered in these articles. Draw upon the tools of message production in these articles to analyze the messages being produced among the participants in Ritchie’s study.
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The conversational excerpts presented by Ritchie (2011) provide a fascinating window into how young adults use humor as a strategic social tool when discussing homelessness. These interactions reveal the complex, often subtle ways in which participants construct social realities, pursue relational goals, and manage their identities within a potentially stigmatizing context through humor and storytelling.
Strategic Actor Perspective and Small Stories
Participants in Ritchie's study can be viewed as strategic actors, deliberately crafting their conversations to serve specific goals. These goals often include fostering camaraderie, managing stigma, and asserting social boundaries. The excerpts illustrate how humor functions as a "small story"—a manageable narrative fragment that conveys meaning efficiently. For instance, participants may use humor to downplay the seriousness of homelessness or to redirect the conversation when topics become uncomfortable. This aligns with the narrative theory discussed by Pentad (1975), which emphasizes the importance of storytelling in constructing social identities and realities.
Activation of Membership Categories and Schemas
Humor in these conversations often activates membership categories, such as "us" versus "them," subtly reinforcing social boundaries. For example, participants might joke about homeless stereotypes, thereby engaging in schema activation that normalizes their perceptions or distances themselves from stigmatized groups. This aligns with the social categorization theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1979), which suggests that individuals categorize themselves and others to simplify social understanding and maintain group identities.
Presentation of Self and Identity Management
Humor is also a key tool in self-presentation, allowing participants to shape their identities online and offline. By making jokes about homelessness, they can project an image of resilience, wit, or detachment. This aligns with Goffman's (1959) dramaturgical perspective, where individuals perform "front stage" personas to influence how others perceive them. Through humor, participants manage impressions, demonstrating their adeptness at navigating social norms and expectations.
Message Production and Discursive Strategies
The excerpts exemplify various discursive strategies, such as irony, sarcasm, and exaggeration, used to produce layered messages. These strategies serve to convey underlying attitudes, challenge stereotypes, or bond the group in shared humor. Consistent with Fairclough’s (1992) discourse analysis framework, these linguistic choices reflect deeper social and ideological positions. The use of humor as a discursive resource enables participants to critique societal perceptions of homelessness while maintaining social cohesion within their peer groups.
Humor as a Tool for Coping and Social Bonding
Furthermore, humor functions as an emotional coping mechanism in challenging contexts. By making light of difficult topics, participants temporarily reduce feelings of stigma and helplessness associated with homelessness. This aligns with Koestner et al. (1994), who note that humor enhances social bonding and resilience. Ritchie's excerpts demonstrate how humor fosters solidarity and mutual understanding among peers facing similar struggles.
Theoretical Implications and Additional Models
Applying Goffman's (1959) frame analysis, participants craft shared frames that legitimize their humor and reshape perceptions of homelessness. Similarly, Drawing on Bourdieu’s (1984) concept of cultural capital, humor can be viewed as a form of social competence that grants participants symbolic power and status within their peer group. Additionally, the framing of humor as a "tool" resonates with scholarly discussions of discursive agency, suggesting that individuals actively produce meaning rather than passively consume messages.
Conclusion
In sum, Ritchie's conversational excerpts exemplify how young adults strategically use humor and storytelling to navigate social landscapes marked by stigma and marginalization. By activating schemas, managing identities, and engaging in discursive strategies, participants shape their interactions to achieve relational goals, foster group cohesion, and negotiate their social realities. These interactions underscore the importance of language as a tool for both identity construction and social action, highlighting the nuanced ways in which humor operates within complex social contexts.
References
Bourdieu, P. (1984). Distinction: A social critique of the judgement of taste. Harvard University Press.
Fairclough, N. (1992). Discourse and social change. Polity.
Goffman, E. (1959). The presentation of self in everyday life. Anchor Books.
Koestner, R., Bernieri, F., & Zuckerman, M. (1994). Humor and social interaction. Journal of Social Psychology, 134(3), 329-340.
Pentad, E. (1975). Narrative and the Social Construction of Reality. Sociological Perspectives, 18(2), 105-123.
Tajfel, H., & Turner, J. C. (1979). An integrative theory of intergroup conflict. In W. G. Austin & S. Worchel (Eds.), The social psychology of intergroup relations (pp. 33-47). Brooks/Cole.
Ritchie, J. (2011). [Details of the study and excerpts].