role theory

[REGINA SEWELL]

Jenny,

I've been sitting on my hands, in part because it is the end of the quarter and I have been grading papers and, well, it's a bit numbing really.....  

Still, you ask about roles.  My framework (as a sociologist) is that roles are social constructions.  They are based on social interaction with others and become part of the conserve.  Some aspects of roles are somewhat universal, in that most of us agree on the role expectations.  For example, the role of mother, most of us expect mothers to be nurturing, to be loving, to listen, to be good role models.  And, at least in the U.S., the courts use this in their determination of penalties...  in that women are more severely punished for violating the expectations of motherhood than they are for the actual "deed" they have committed.  

As far as evolution...  here you are talking about genetics.  Robert Lipton, a cellular biologist has proposed the notion that although DNA is important, outcome is shaped by environment.  That is, the environment in which a cell lives determines how the DNA responds.  I have also been listening to Daniel J. Siegel's "Neurobiology of We" which focuses on attachment and relationships (this is essentially the environment) and it turns out that DNA, genetics, has no impact on attachment...  and attachment has an incredible impact on one's life narrative.  One's understanding of roles is based on one's narrative, one's story, one's understanding of roles and expectations about how one should be and how others should be.  And, significantly, one's life narrative is highly (incredibly highly) correlated with one's parent's narrative.  This suggest not evolutionary but learned social behavior.

Peace out,
regina sewell, ph.d.

<<If we accept that human functioning is guided by/ arranged somehow into
roles (maybe this statement will be the first point of
discussion/challenge) then I would assume some evolutionary advantage to
having us wired this way (I guess this statement too could be debated!)
Can you comment about roles from an evolutionary  perspective ? to put
the question more bluntly:  How did we end up wired this way?>>

Regards
Jenny

regina sewell, Ph.D.


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