 Elaine's friendship with George may cost her a love interest Tags: crime/law/deviance, theory, interpersonal relationships, james coleman, social capital, 00 to 05 mins
Year: 1994 Length: 1:51 Access: YouTube Summary: In this clip from the Seinfeld episode entitled "The Wife" (17th episode, 5th season), George confesses to Jerry and Elaine that he was caught urinating in the shower at the gym earlier that day by another member of the health club. Though not depicted in the clip, we later find out that the man who witnessed George's deviant act is a love interest of Elaine's. This clip can be used to illustrate the concept of social capital. According to the social theorist James Coleman, social capital is located in human relationships and can be leveraged to facilitate individual goals aimed at accumulating valued outcomes. In contrast to another clip on The Sociological Cinema that demonstrates how social capital is deployed to achieve a valued outcome, this clip from Seinfeld demonstrates how a lack of social capital can impede this process as well. Specifically, this scene illustrates how relationships in one context (George's behavior in a shower) affect the goals of another person in another unrelated context (Elaine's pursuit of a love interest). Put simply, George's behavior in a health club bathroom mediates Elaine's pursuit of a valued goal (a love interest).This clip can be paired with Coleman's 1988 article in the American Journal of Sociology, "Social Capital in the creation of Human Capital." Submitted By: Anonymous
1 Comment
Anonymous
7/6/2014 11:45:51 pm
This clip can also be used to teach about social networks. Sociologists who study networks typically define network ties as connections between two or more actors that allow them to communicate information to one another. These ties have been found to be important in a variety of different facets of social life (e.g. getting a job, dating, purchasing goods and services). This clip shows how these ties affect the relationships between people in distal parts of a networks. Let us say that George and Elaine represent a dyadic network of two people. A man that Elaine is romantically interested in observes George behaving deviantly (peeing in the shower) at their health club. When this man knows that George is connected to Elaine, knowledge of this tie affects the relationship between Elaine and George. Leave a Reply. |
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