Action theories Flashcards
social action theory
Weber:
-society is shaped from the bottom up
-social actions shape wider society
-society is made up of bureaucracies:organisations made up of individual people carrying out social actions in order to achieve certain goals
EXAMPLE:schools have people playing different roles
-without people performing such actions the bureacratic system wouldn’t exist
-micro approach:study individual people
-emphasis on verstehen:see world from other peoples perspective
Different types of actions:
Affectual action:Individals emotional state at that moment in time
EXAMPLE:Funeral feeling sad
Traditional action:People act in a certain way due to built habits
EXAMPLE:Routines carried out at work
Instrumentally rational action:Clear awareness of goal+acting in order to achieve it
EXAMPLE:attending school to pass exams
Value rational action:Behaving in a way which the individual feels desireable but doesn’t achieve physical goals
EXAMPLE:going to pray,effectiveness can’t be measured but makes people feel better
EVALUATION:
-Verstehen in research might not be achievable
-Can’t assume all actions have meaning
-people are socialised into engaging in certain behaviours.Not free will
SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM
Interpreting symbolism
Mead:
-people make conscious choices about to behave in different social context-> choices are made by observing what is happening around us+judging how best to react
-People look for symbols in every social situation
SYMBOL:visual stimulus which represents something deeper
EXMAPLES:facial expressions+body language
-We learn symbolism by putting ourselves in the role of the other person->Skilled developed childhood
-As we get older we can empathised better with others
-within one society/culture the meaning of a symbol is largely shared
-meaning symbolism is socially constructed:shared ideas which are a product of interactions with others between people in the same environment
EVALUATION
-Not all symbols mean the same thing to everyone
-symbols can be interpreted inaccurately
SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM
negotiation of action
Blumer:
Agrees with Mead
1)Peoples actions are based k. conscious interpretation of a symbol
2)People need to be able to emphasise with people in order to accurately interpret their symbols
-Indivual people have the capacity to respond to the same symbol in different ways
EXAMPLE:Prisons
-have clear symbols which offenders are expected to interpret such as restrictions on access
-some prisoners will conform in hope if being realised whilst others rebel and see it as oppression
EVALUATION:
-Good that it acknowledges people will interpret+react to symbols differently
-doesn’t fully explain why people react differently
-doesn’t explain the origins of symbolism
SYMBOLIC INTERRACTIONISM
Labelling theory
-focuses on how people apply labels and how individuals respond to labels
1)Application of labels to other people or groups-Definition of situation
-Individual makes a judgement about another person and starts to treat the person according to their judgment
2)Self full filling prophecy
Cooley:looking glass self
-how person responds to the label
-they start to see themselves how other people see them
-internalise judgment as true
3)master status
-The label has stuck to them
Lemert:known as career
-person is best known for negative judgement made against them
EVALUATION:
-Too deterministic,assumes people don’t the have the capacity to resist labels which are applied to them
Structuration Theory
Giddens:
-social life is shaped by a combination of human ans wider social influences
-human action and social structure are in a two way relationship (agency)
THE ROLE OF RULES IN MAINTAINING SOCIETY
-Social structures are regulated by rules.Informal rules=underpin functions of social structure.Formal rules=written in law
-dictate how people should behave in social situations
EXAMPLE:In education their a formal and informal rules that control behaviour over students
Informal=timetable and school uniform
Formal=teachers and student having a non professional relationship
ROLE OF RULES IN SOCIAL CHANGE
-rules are not fixed but negotiable
-If more people start to reject rules, the structure may need to changes
EXAMPLE:Women being able to vote-as there was protests which eventually worked
-most social change occurs gradually->happens due to ontological security
-if change occurred quickly it would bring about conflict and division
-Not everyone interprets changes in the same way
EXAMPLE:women still choose to be a housewife even if they have other options
-how we feel about structural development still boils down to our free will
EVALUATION:
-Not everyone has equal power to challenge existing social rules
EG-White people had more power in the civil rights movement
-Structural factors control the extent of social change
EG-women rights
-people have limited freedom to choose how they interpret social rules due to restrictions from law
