Presentation of the Self

This weeks discussion on the presentation of the self had me thinking about the many roles and personality traits or actions I display, dependent upon where I am, who I am surrounded by and what I am doing at the time.  During the group presentation today, I shared with the class, about who I was, in terms of a mother, student and employee and described how i acted and spoke in front of my son was dramatically different to  how i speak and act with my friends.  I discussed how I don't swear etc in front of my son, but when I'm with my friends, I actually swear quite a lot, and when I've been drinking alcohol, my swearing increases, as does my sarcasm.  Yet the role I play in front of my son, is that of a teacher, nurturer and role model.  That is when I speak to people, whether I know them or not, I make sure I always say please and thank you, and I generally wait for him to use manners before I will give him something (eg, getting him a drink of water or something to eat).  I am also different when I am at work with how i interact with my colleagues, my manager and our clients. Depending on the client I am talking to, due to the nature of the job I work, when i am speaking with senior or executive staff, I don't address them as Professor/Dean/Associate Professor, but address them by their Christian name, even though I am aware of their status within the University hierarchy. 

On the opposite end of the social interaction order is the term social death of an individual. A good example is where someone that has performed devient behaviour, the individual is stripped of their identity, and no longer holds a status within society.  An example of this would be when an individual becomes a prisoner.  They no longer have an identity, per say, they then become a number.