CHAPTER 6
SUPPORTING IDENTITY: THE PRESENTATION OF SELF

Sociologists at Work

Ronny Turner and Charles Edgley

Mortuary Performances
Perhaps no other industry is as concerned with public image as the funeral industry. Because of the extreme emotions involved in the work it does, every detail must be tightly controlled.

Use of the term funeral director instead of undertaker attests to the importance of impression management at mortuaries. Funeral directors must present themselves as sincere, sympathetic, and understanding.

Ronny Turner and Charles Edgley contributed to our understanding of collective impression management through their study of the funeral industry. 1 They observed funeral services, interviewed directors, and studied the manuals of 15 mortuaries in three cities.

One focus of their study was the manner in which mortuary employees manage the funeral ritual.

The director, for instance, must stage the performance so that the grieving family and friends will attribute dignity and sincerity to the mortuary.

Turner and Edgley write: "A successful funeral is a sequence of activities performed by the funeral director and his staff that are later seen by the bereaved as a respectful, appropriate tribute to the life and memory of the deceased."2

The maintenance of a separate and completely hidden back-stage area is essential to the performance. The corpse preparation room is physically separated from the public areas of the funeral home. The procedures usedówashing, shaving, slicing, powdering, embalmingówould shock the friends and family of the deceased.

So would the jokes, racial slurs, sexual comments, insults, and other activities that are commonplace back stage. For instance, the "casket" becomes the "stuffing box"; the "dearly departed" becomes the "cold one"; "embalming" becomes "pickling."

Such back-stage behavior, while seemingly distasteful and inappropriate, is not meant to be callous. Look at it as an institutionalized means by which employees manage stress and psychologically distance themselves from a potentially repulsive and gloomy aspect of their occupation. Thus they can maintain their composure in highly emotional situations. Similar lightheartedness can be found among medical students who, in the course of their clinical training, must observe the dissection of cadavers.3

Witnessing the preparation of the body for the funeral would destroy the front-stage impression so essential to the industry. Thus the deceased is transformed from an object back stage to a respected human being front stage. The body is never touched by mortuary personnel in front of family and friends.

As for the management of the setting, funeral homes always present themselves as warm, soothing places with white columns, lots of flowers and grass, and meticulous indoor decorations.

Black is never seen. Many hearses are now gray, white, or blue instead of the traditional black.

The chapel, where the memorial service is held, is designed to facilitate a successful performance. Here, music is tactfully used to set the mood. Here, too, the audience actively participates in the drama. They cooperate in the rituals and do not even try to go back stage.

They have their own stake in impressions being maintained.

1 Turner, R., & Edgley, C. 1976. "Death as theater: A dramaturgical analysis of the American funeral." Sociology and Social Research, 60, 377-392.
2 Turner, R., & Edgley, C. 1976. "Death as theater: A dramaturgical analysis of the American funeral." Sociology and Social Research, 60, 377-392. p. 387.
3 Hafferty, F. W. 1991. Into the valley: Death and socialization of medical students. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

Philip Blumstein
"Altercasting" Your Date

In addition to managing our own impressions, or trying to manipulate the way others see us, sometimes we try to place another person in a particular identity. Using verbal strategies to impose a certain self-image on others is called "altercasting."1

We sometimes cast others into roles that are to our advantage, forcing people to act "voluntarily" in ways that are consistent with our interests. Saying "After all the things I've done for you, the least you could do is let me borrow your car" immediately places on the recipient of the comment the identity of "obligated friend" and compels him or her to reciprocate a favor. Similarly, when a teacher tells a student "I know you can do better," the student is compelled to live up to an identity of competence.

The use of altercasting was demonstrated in a study by sociologist Philip Blumstein on social interaction in a dating situation.2 Women in the study were instructed to claim a "healthily assertive" identity by altercasting their dates into a submissive role. They would say things like

"I've been dating this one guy, but we broke up because he would never let me have any say about what we do. You wouldn't treat me that way, would you?" Or "I like guys who don't come on like they own me, but let me take some initiative."

Although some of the men rejected these attempts to define their identity, most did not. Most went along with their assertive dates, presenting themselves in a way that was consistent with the identity into which they had been cast. For example, a man might say, "Sorry I've been so pushy. Whatever you say goes."

This research has obvious implications for interpersonal power relations, showing how people can manipulate the behavior of others. It also sheds light on the strength of the particular identities that make up one's self-concept. Most of the men who resisted the altercasting attempts had indicated earlier in the study that dominance was an important aspect of their own self-concept. The men who rated dominance as unimportant were more likely to accept the submissive identity.

Blumstein concluded that we tend to reject altercasting attempts that threaten an identity central to our overall self-concept.

1 Weinstein, E. A., & Deutschberger, P. 1963. "Some dimensions of altercasting." Sociometry, 26, 454-466.
2 Blumstein, P. 1975. "Identity bargaining and self-conception." Social Forces, 53, 476-485.