Question

According to Erving Goffman, _________ refers to an institution where all aspects of a person’s life are regulated by a single authority. Through a process of _________ ceremony, the person shall become secondary and invisible in the overbearing social environment.

• A. university, graduation
• B. total institution, degradation
• C. university, degradation
• D. total institution, graduation

Hint:

A total institution involves a complete regulation of an individual’s life by a single authority, with processes of degradation that strip away former identities.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is B

Step 1: Understanding Goffman’s concept of total institutions.
Erving Goffman coined the term "total institution" to describe institutions where all aspects of an individual’s life are regulated by a single authority, such as prisons, mental hospitals, or military service. The process of degradation involves stripping an individual of their previous identity and rendering them secondary to the institution.

Step 2: Analyzing the options.
- (A) Incorrect, while universities are institutions, they do not fit the description of total institutions that Goffman provided. Graduation is not a process of degradation.
- (B) Correct, total institutions like prisons and mental hospitals enforce strict control and use degradation rituals to break down a person’s former identity.
- (C) Incorrect, while universities may involve a process of degradation in certain contexts, they do not meet the criteria for a total institution as defined by Goffman.
- (D) Incorrect, this combination is not consistent with Goffman’s concept of total institutions.
Step 3: Conclusion.
Thus, the correct answer is (B) total institution, degradation.