Action theories: Symbolic interactionism

Question 1

How does Mead distinguish our behaviour from animals?

Answer 1

• our behaviour is not shaped by fixed, pre-programmed instincts

Question 2

As our behaviour isn’t shaped by fixed, pre-programmed instincts, what do we do?

Answer 2

• we respond to the world by giving meanings to the things that are significant to us

Question 3

How do we create and inhabit a world of meanings?

Answer 3

• we attach symbols to the world

Question 4

Between the stimulus and our response to it, what is there?

Answer 4

• the interpretive phase

Question 5

How does Mead explain how we manage to interpret other peoples meanings?

Answer 5

• by taking the role of the other ie. putting ourselves in the place of others and seeing ourselves as they see us

Question 6

How do we develop the ability to take the role of others? Expand a little

Answer 6

• social interaction
• we do it as young children through imitative play when we take on the role of significant others eg. parents, and learn to see ourselves as they see us
• later, we come to see ourselves from the viewpoint of the wider community, the generalised other

Question 7

How do we become conscious of the ways of acting that others require of us?

Answer 7

• through shared symbols and especially language

Question 8

After Mead, Blumer extends his ideas and identified what three key principles?

Answer 8

• our actions are based on the meanings we give situations, events, people, unlike animals, our actions are not based on automatic responses to stimuli
• these meanings arise from the interaction process, they’re not fixed at the outset of the interaction but are to some extent negotiable and changeable
• the meanings we give to situations are the result of the interpretive procedures we use

Question 9

In what way does Blumer’s view contrast heavily with structural theories such as functionalism?

Answer 9

• functionalists see the individual as a puppet, passively responding to the system’s needs whereas Blumer argues that while our action is partly predictable because we internalise the expectations of others, it is not completely fixed - always room for negotiation and choice in how we perform our roles

Question 10

What type of concepts do labelling theorists use in the study of many areas?

Answer 10

• interactionist

Question 11

What are the 3 key interactionist concepts that underpin labelling theory?

Answer 11

• definition of the situation
• the looking-glass self
• career

Question 12

Thomas argues that if people define a situation as real, what will happen? Give examples

Answer 12

• it will have real consequences - it will affect the way we act and it may have consequences for those involved

Question 13

Give an example of people defining a situation as real and it having real effects

Answer 13

• if the teacher labels a boy as naughty, they might behave differently towards him

Question 14

Which sociologist uses the looking-glass self to describe how we develop our self-concept?

Answer 14

• Charles Cooley

Question 15

Where does Cooley believe our self-concept arises out of?

Answer 15

• our ability to take the role of the other

Question 16

What does Cooley believe happens in interactions?

Answer 16

• we take the role of the other and come to see ourselves as others see us ie. others act as a looking-glass to us, we see our ‘self’ mirrored in they way they respond to us

Question 17

What happens when our self-concept arises from our understanding of how others see us?

Answer 17

• a self-fulfilling prophecy occurs

Question 18

Which kind of groups have labelling theorists such as Lemert extended the concept of a ‘career’ to?

Answer 18

• medical students
• marijuana smokers
• those suffering paranoia

Question 19

Give an example of someone having a ‘career’ not in the traditional sense of progressing in occupation

Answer 19

• mental health patient

- career from ‘pre-patient’ with symptoms through labelling to a psychiatrist to hospital in-patient to discharge

Question 20

What does each stage of the ‘career’ have? Give an example

Answer 20

• status and problems

- eg. when a mental patient is discharged they may find it difficult to reintegrate

Question 21

Just as a normal career gives us status in society, how would the career as a ‘mental patient’ have an effect on societal status?

Answer 21

• it may become our master status in the eyes of society

Question 22

What has labelling theory been accused of?

Answer 22

• being too deterministic

Question 23

What does Goffman’s work describe in contrast to labelling theorists?

Answer 23

• how we actively construct our ‘self’ by manipulating other people’s impressions of us

Question 24

Goffman’s approach is described as dramaturgical because he uses analogies with drama. Describe some

Answer 24

• we are all ‘actors’ between ‘performances’ we present to our ‘audiences’ and so on

Question 25

What are two key dramaturgical concepts?

Answer 25

• the presentation of the self

- impression management

Question 26

According to Goffman, how do we control the impression our performance gives so that we present the particular image we desire to audiences?

Answer 26

• constantly studying our audience to see their responses, monitoring and adjusting our performance to present a convincing image

Question 27

What are examples of techniques used for impression management?

Answer 27

• language, tone, gestures, facial expressions, props and setting (eg. dress, make-up, decor)

Question 28

How does Goffman use the dramaturgical analogy to describe the different settings of interactions?

Answer 28

• similarly to a theatre, there is a front where we act our roles and then a background where we ‘be ourselves’ and step out of role

Question 29

Goffman rejects the view of functionalists that our roles are tightly ‘scripted’ by society and we internalise our scripts through socialisation so much that they become part of our identity. How does Goffman reject this view?

Answer 29

• he argues there is a ‘gap’ or role distance between our real self and our roles
• roles are only loosely scripted we have a good deal of freedom in how we play them

Question 30

Due to the idea of role distance, what result does that have for us?

Answer 30

• we don’t always believe in the roles we play and our role performance can be cynical or calculating