The Code

This week we looked at the processes through which people make sense of what is going on in the world around them. The part of this topic which stood out to me most was the concept of 'the code'.

From my understanding 'the code' is a set of mutually understood, unwritten rules which are used to attribute meaning to a situation. When looking at the concept of codes from an ethnomethodological perspective, it was indicated in the lecture that conduct produces the code. This code can then be applied both retrospectively to interpret people's actions, and to predict future conduct. There are different codes for different groups of people and different situations. The reading this week spoke about the 'Convict Code' in a halfway house and how this was used by both the staff and the inmates to explain behaviour such as the inmates not 'snitching' on each other.

This got me thinking about what other codes I know of and I remembered the 'Man code' which I have heard referred to by my male friends on numerous occasions. I believe this is a set of rules which will govern interactions between men, but of course, as a female I do not know exactly how this works – I have not 'cracked the code'. However I did google the 'Man code' and found a copy, some parts of which I found quite amusing so I have posted a link to it below! =)

Wieder, D. Laurence. 1974. “Telling the Code.” Pp. 144-172 in Ethnomethodology, edited by

Roy Turner. Harmondsworth: Penguin.

The Man Code, http://www.liquorwits.com/code.html