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People from the lower social classes frequently encounter devaluation patterns and respond in stigma management ways, similarly to other stigmatized groups. Thus, the study conducted by Robert Granfield in 1991 intended to examine the socialization of the working-class university students getting higher education in elite Ivy League law schools. First, the article explores ways in which working-class individuals experience a sense of differentness. Second, it examines how students behaved in response to the class stigma by managing information related to their origins. Third, the author suggests why research on social stigma can significantly benefit from Goffmans works. Granfield utilized a versatile methodology, including fieldwork, interviews, and surveys, to conclude his study.
Initially, students were feeling proud of their working-class background and desired to contribute to a social change. However, their association with the working-class began to diminish after they started to be perceived as different. Therefore, their background shifted to be a burden rather than a source of pride. Additionally, working-class students were facing high levels of stress, lack of confidence, and societal pressure from being perceived as outsiders (Granfield, 1991). Consequently, they had a choice of either embracing their differences or challenging social status. The ones that chose to confront their class identity soon realized that they could effectively imitate the habits and apparel of their upper-class peers; thus, they started to conceal their origins more actively. This later led to identity ambivalence, as they could not fully let go of their background or embrace their working-class past, leading to identity conflict and guilt. Lastly, some were able to resolve ambivalence by immersing themselves in higher social classes for specific purposes.
The article is related to the topic of socialization, especially the Ervin Goffman ideas related to the presentation of the self. The technique called impression management implies the change of individual self through appearances transformation to serve particular audiences. The working-class students adopted distinctive features to merge with the group of middle-class peers and get a well-paid job. Goffmans definition of social stigma also corresponds with the articles characterization of the working-class in the context of an elite educational facility.
Reference
Granfield. R. (1991). Making it by faking it: Working-class students in an elite academic environment. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 20(3), 331-351. Web.
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