Essay Questions

Expound the role of "service specialists" in the context of performances.

Goffman writes, “On the basis of concrete research it would seem that service specialists can hardly attend to the needs of an individual performer without acquiring as much, or more destructive information about some aspects of the individual's performance as the individual himself possesses. Service specialists are like members of the team in that they learn the secrets of the show and obtain a backstage view of it.” Specialists such as dentists who help ion fixing client’s crooked teeth basically work in the backstage when they aid in fixing the teeth. The end result of their work is an impressive dental formula. Other individuals would not understand the ugliness which had been fixed before the teeth looked presentable. Accordingly, ‘service specialists’ are directly involved in their clients’ performances through the services which they offer in the backstage.

Why is discretion required in the case of service specialists?

Goffman expounds, “Unlike members of the team, however, the specialist does not share the risk, the guilt, and the satisfaction of presenting before an audience the show to which he has contributed. And, unlike members of the team, in learning the secrets of others, the others do not learn corresponding secrets about him. It is in this context that we can understand why professional ethics often oblige the specialist to show 'discretion." Specialists do not divulge their secrets to their clients; accordingly, they could expose the secrets to other third parties which could harm the clients. Clients would not be able to be even because they are unacquainted of the specialists' secrets. The clients should be assured that their secrets, which they must disclose to specialists for better services, would not be divulged. Specialists who selfishly exploit their clients' secrets are deemed unprofessional.

How does social status impact specialists’ performance?

Goffman elucidates, “When the specialist is of higher general social status than the individuals for whom he provides a service, his general social valuation of them may be confirmed by the particular things he must learn about them. In some situations this becomes a significant factor in maintaining the status quo…Sometimes we find, of course, that the general social status of the client is higher than that of the specialists who are retained to attend to his front.” A status quo can be maintained when the specialist enjoys more social power than the client; however, the quo would be disrupted when the client has greater social power than the specialist. In the case of a specialist with a higher status, such specialist would execute his/her mandate without being intimidated or hindered by the client. Specialist dealing with clients of higher social standing may find it complex to control the flow of information with the client; the specialist would feel relatively weaker or powerless than the high ranking client due to the non-existence status quo.