Articles
Interaction Rituals and Self-Identities
A short ethnography of a private support institution for social withdrawal
2007 Volume 58 Issue 1 Pages 2-20
Details
2007 Volume 58 Issue 1 Pages 2-20
Since the 1990s, Hikikomori (social withdrawal) has become a social problem in Japan. Hikikomori implies that the young people withdraw from most social activities. Moreover, most of them have extremely negative self-identities to the extent that they often retreat into their houses or rooms to avoid meeting other people. Subsequently, one of the goals of support institutions dealing with this problem is to change these young people's self-identities into positive ones.
First, this article argues the social conditions involved in changing the users' identities on the basis of participant observations and interviews in an institution. In particular, the interaction rituals that are always used by the staff and the users in their daily lives have been examined as important conditions involved in changing the users' identities. According to Goffman (1967), I describe two rituals, referential avoidance and invitation to join collective activities, practiced particularly in such institutions.
These rituals enable the users to ease their anxiety concerning human relationships and gradually speak about themselves to each other. The rituals provide such conditions that enable the users to alter their self-image regarding sociability as well as provide opportunities that help the users reconstruct their self-narratives.
Subsequently, I examine the negative effects of these interaction rituals. Highly developed rituals in such institutions paradoxically prevent the users from completely rewriting their self-narratives. Self-narratives obtain their realities from the acceptance given by "others." However, the stringent rules of these rituals deprive the users of "otherness." Furthermore, being conscious of rituals that facilitate inner development makes the users fear that they will inevitably lose face in society. Consequently, they hesitate in approaching society, and as a result, they maintain their simple and negative image regarding society.
