NAMES WORTH KNOWING

George Herbert Mead (1863–1931) sought to understand the relationship between roles and identities, and coined the term generalized other for the ways individuals internalize the expectations of others and govern themselves accordingly.

Max Weber (1864–1920) was the first sociologist to realize the significance of formal organization and bureaucracies for society.

Charles Horton Cooley (1864–1929) articulated the theory of the looking-glass self, and noted that primary groups (e.g. families, peers) were the main agents of social learning.

Herbert Blumer (1900–1987) helped to establish social constructionism, the view that social reality is created through a continuous process in which we all participate.

Robert Merton (1910–2003) developed the concept of reference groups to identify the groups to which an individual compares himself (and judges himself), whether or not he is a member. He also contributed significantly to our understanding of the dysfunctions of bureaucracy, especially the bureaucratic personality.

Erving Goffman (1922–1982) argued that social life could be thought of as a theatrical production, consisting of costumes, audiences, roles, and scripts—a sociological perspective termed the dramaturgical approach.

Howard Becker (b. 1928) devised labelling theory to explain how certain roles come to be branded “deviant.”