Society and Identity Toward a Sociological Psychology [Hardcover]

This book examines sociological perspectives on identity, illuminating the perennial problem of defining the human person, and posing an alternative definition of identity.Examines sociological perspectives on identity to clarify the ongoing problem of defining the human self and to propose a new definition of identity based on its social construction. Analyzes identity in two particular contexts: gender identity and pre-natal and post-mortem identities.Examines sociological perspectives on identity to clarify the ongoing problem of defining the human self and to propose a new definition of identity based on its social construction. Analyzes identity in two particular contexts: gender identity and pre-natal and post-mortem identities.Since the 1940s, there has been an explosion of writings, both scientific and nonscientific, about the question of 'identity' and what it means to be an individual in today's world. This book examines sociological perspectives on identity in order to illuminate the perennial problem of defining the human person, and to pose an alternative definition of identity based on it being socially constructed. Beginning with a review of previous studies of identity, the authors present a set of propositions for organizing the wide range of uses of the term, and for arriving at an adequate definition of it. Identity is then analysed in two contexts: gender identity, linked to present bodies; and prenatal and postmortem identities, linked to future and past bodies. Whereas gender identity reveals the powerful but breakable link between body type and identity, prenatal and postmortem identities illustrate the symbolic reality and partial independence of identity from any corporeal existence. This is an innovative and insightful study which will appeal to all those concerned with understanding the nature of human identity.Preface; Part I. The Story of Whence Identity and a Step Toward Theory: 1. Identity: its emergence within sociological psychology;lÃ)