Does anyone know which piece the idea of the Preparatory Stage comes from? I found Play and The Game in Mead's Mind, Self, and Society, but haven't found Prep just yet. Maybe it's just not in the excerpt I was given for class.
@nathanculli I absolutely love sociology history questions and this is actually a tough one. You are correct that Play and Game both appear in Mind Self and Society. There’s no explicit mention of the Preparatory stage however. The book includes discussions about preparing for roles but I can’t find that the text ever actually calls it the Preparatory stage. However that term is routinely found as part of the stages in intro sociology texts and used sociology/psychology articles from back in the day. Everyone is using that term, so where exactly did it come from? Mind Self and Society was a posthumous work created in part by Mead’s closest students based on the framework of Mead’s ideas. That makes me wonder if this was an idea he had used in describing the stages (as it appears in concept more than once in Mind Self and Society) on other work or even lectures but a student of his later coined the actual term in a subsequent paper and permanently attached it to the stages theory. It’s common for students to adapt their mentor’s ideas it their own work and it would make sense that perhaps they saw down the line that listing this initial stage was beneficial in applying the theory. That seems plausible but I’d really like to find something more concrete. Let me do some digging and asking around to see what I can find. In the meantime thanks for watching and asking a great question.
@nathanculli and we have an answer! Shoutout to my friend and fellow sociologist @hningard for finding the answer (and a rabbit hole for more research) in like five minutes where I looked for hours. So per Veil’s 2007) entry on preparatory stage in the Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology, Mead never specifically used the term as I guessed above. Instead it was an idea implied in his earlier works. We see that partly in Mind Self and Society, too as he talks often of preparing for roles but only names the Play and Game stages in stages of the self. This does still leave us with a partial mystery: where did that term come from? I’ll keep digging and see what else might come of it, but hope this is helpful for now.
@@dr.maples Thank you very much for the detailed responses! This feedback is very helpful for my final philosophy project. You've explained so clearly, both in this comment and video, a concept that wasn't as easy to grasp during my in-class lectures. It's clear that you are passionate about this and your enthusiasm in sharing it is absolutely appreciated.
Thank you for making this video! While I understand Mead focuses on the development of the self during childhood, may I ask if the play stage and the game stage can extend beyond that? Such as understanding hierarchies, rules, and work roles at work as resembling the dynamics during the game stage?
Does anyone know which piece the idea of the Preparatory Stage comes from? I found Play and The Game in Mead's Mind, Self, and Society, but haven't found Prep just yet. Maybe it's just not in the excerpt I was given for class.
@nathanculli I absolutely love sociology history questions and this is actually a tough one. You are correct that Play and Game both appear in Mind Self and Society. There’s no explicit mention of the Preparatory stage however. The book includes discussions about preparing for roles but I can’t find that the text ever actually calls it the Preparatory stage. However that term is routinely found as part of the stages in intro sociology texts and used sociology/psychology articles from back in the day. Everyone is using that term, so where exactly did it come from?
Mind Self and Society was a posthumous work created in part by Mead’s closest students based on the framework of Mead’s ideas. That makes me wonder if this was an idea he had used in describing the stages (as it appears in concept more than once in Mind Self and Society) on other work or even lectures but a student of his later coined the actual term in a subsequent paper and permanently attached it to the stages theory. It’s common for students to adapt their mentor’s ideas it their own work and it would make sense that perhaps they saw down the line that listing this initial stage was beneficial in applying the theory. That seems plausible but I’d really like to find something more concrete.
Let me do some digging and asking around to see what I can find. In the meantime thanks for watching and asking a great question.
@nathanculli and we have an answer! Shoutout to my friend and fellow sociologist @hningard for finding the answer (and a rabbit hole for more research) in like five minutes where I looked for hours.
So per Veil’s 2007) entry on preparatory stage in the Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology, Mead never specifically used the term as I guessed above. Instead it was an idea implied in his earlier works. We see that partly in Mind Self and Society, too as he talks often of preparing for roles but only names the Play and Game stages in stages of the self.
This does still leave us with a partial mystery: where did that term come from? I’ll keep digging and see what else might come of it, but hope this is helpful for now.
@@dr.maples Thank you very much for the detailed responses! This feedback is very helpful for my final philosophy project. You've explained so clearly, both in this comment and video, a concept that wasn't as easy to grasp during my in-class lectures. It's clear that you are passionate about this and your enthusiasm in sharing it is absolutely appreciated.
I'm studying for the MCAT, and this was a very helpful overview! Thank you!
Awesome! Glad to help. Thanks for watching! Please share the channel with your friends and good luck on the MCAT!
Woo sorry for the wild typo on the title there for a few days...I need more sleep or less coffee, looks like....🤣
Thank you for making this video! While I understand Mead focuses on the development of the self during childhood, may I ask if the play stage and the game stage can extend beyond that? Such as understanding hierarchies, rules, and work roles at work as resembling the dynamics during the game stage?
So glad this was helpful. I feel those ideas could be applied as you noted, especially understanding things like how hierarchies function. Cool idea!
Great explanation, thank you
Glad to hear it! Thanks for watching!