Action theories Flashcards
Type of theory
- Refers to a collection of theories which share a number of similarities
- Includes, phenomenology, ethnomethodology and symbolic interactionism
- Modernist theories – we can obtain ‘true’ knowledge through objective research (and findings can be used to improve society)
- Believe individuals create society through the meanings they give to situations – interpretivist and bottom up
- Small – scale interactions e.g. interaction of citizen and police officer create wider social issues such as crime
- Micro approach – use qualitative methods to understand society because they are high in validity and allow for verstehen. Low in reliability but high in validity
- Voluntarist viewpoint – we are free to create and shape society through choices, meanings and actions
Types of action
a. Instrumental rational action - calculates the most efficient means of achieving a given goal e.g capitalist calculate min wages as possible to maximize profit
b. Value-rational action - action towards a goal that the individual regards as desirable for its own sake e.g believing in god to go to heaven
c. Traditional action - routine or habitual actions with no conscious thought or choice has gone into it.
d. Affectual action - action that expresses emotion e.g weeping out in grief
Evaluation - Weber
● Over-emphasis on structural factors
● Schutz - too individualistic and cannot explain shared nature of meanings
● Typology of meaning is difficult to apply
● Advocate use of verstehen can actually be the other person can’t ever truly understand their motives
Symbolic interactionism
● Focuses on our ability to create the social world through our actions and interactions
● Interactions based on meanings we attach to situations
Instinct - Mead
● Our behaviour is not shaped by fixed, pre-programmed instincts
● Respond to the world by giving meanings to things that are significant to us
● We do this by attaching symbols (something that stands for or presents something else)
● interpret meaning before response then we choose the appropriate response
Role of other
● By putting ourselves in the place of the other and seeing ourselves as the way they see us
● Our ability to take the role of another develops through social interaction
● To function as a member of society we need to see ourselves as others see us.
Blumer
● Meanings arise from the interaction process, not fixed from the outset but are negotiable and changeable
● Meanings are as a result of interpretive procedures we use
Labelling theory
● Definition of situation - if situation is defined as real then it will have real consequences e.g if believe something is true it will affect how we act
● Looking glass self - how we develop our self concept (who we are) arises out of the ability to take the role of others see ourselves as they see us SFP occurs become what others see us as
Dramaturgical model
● How we actively construct our ‘self’ by manipulating other people’s impressions of us
● We are all actors acting our scripts using props resting backstage which we act on stage to an audience
Impression of management
● Seek to present a particular image of ourselves to our audience
● Must control the impression which involves constantly studying audience to see how they respond
● Use language, tone of voice, gestures and facial expressions, makeup and clothing
Evaluation of SI
● Focuses on face to face interactions ignores wider social structures such as class inequality ● Fails to explain consistency in patterns of behaviour we observe
Phenomenology
● We can never really define the world outside our minds is really like - what our senses tell us about it
Typifications
● World only makes sense because we impose meaning and order it by constructing mental categories
● Categories are not unique to ourselves but share with members of society
● Shared stock oftypifications (common sense knowledge) use to make sense of our experiences eg shared assumptions on the way things are.
Ethnomethodology
● Rejects idea that society is a real objective structure out there
● Interested in how social order is achieved.
● Social order is created from the bottom up - not achieved people are puppets strings are pulled by social systems
Indexicality and reflexivity
● Indexicality is threat - if meanings unstable communication and cooperation are difficult
● Cannot take meanings for granted as fixed or clear as do this in everyday life so enables us to behave if meanings are unclear
● Reflexivity - fact that we use common sense knowledge in everyday interactions to construct a sense of meaning and order
● Language - vital importance to achieving this as description gives reality making meanings clearer
