interactionism Flashcards
action-based theory
we create the culture we live in - social structure/ institutions are the creation of individuals
we have free will, choice and not governed by determinism of structuralism
emphasis on the individual and everyday behaviour rather than structure of society - micro-approach
see people’s behaviour guided by meanings we attach to situations eg baby crying
we are influenced by others’ attitudes and values - we are a product of our interactions with others
evaluation of action based theory
structural theorists f + m - interactionists overstate individual choice - cultural forces are far more powerful than their ideas would suggest
ffm - interactionists neglect the structural features of society - aware of them but focus on interactions
interactionists fail to explain who is responsible for defining the norms of acceptable behaviour
interactions over structural inequalities
goffman - interaction order - places where two or more people interact - distinctive sphere of social life with rules that exist independently of other social division eg involves analysis of immediate presence
identification types - if we know person - individual identification and if not categorical eg age, ethnicity
civil inattention - everyday life governed by informal rules eg not bumping into each other - characteristic of large societies rather than small scale societies
impression management - interaction - role-playing - social identity is a performance - change according to who we are interacting with
labelling theory
becker - how some individuals become labelled in a certain way and consequences of the label
eg school situations - labelled as deviant
how can they negotiate label
acts as a prediction - self-fulfilling prophecy
socialisation into an identity
goffman - ethnographic study of inmates in mental hospital in USA - institution destroying individuality and then would attempt to rebuild sense of self with own collective image
self-fulfilling prophecy
the labelling process
teacher label pupil - power of label with authority the teacher - difficult for pupil to escape it
once student feel system no longer values them, they have no stake tin the system - live up to label
- self-fulfilling prophecy
- form subculture - deviant career encouraged
some labels become master status
eval of labelling process
becker - accused of determinism - concept of self-fulfilling prophecy - offer individuals little active choice
marxist - labelling theory fails to account for wider structures and ignores power - fails to recognise who have power in defining who is deviant
akers - must be reason why some people labelled and some not - incomplete theory
the self
mead - behaviour - we respond to world by attaching meanings to actions - way we interpret others
self consists of 2 parts
i - active - decision making - how i feel about me
me - socialised aspect - how i feel others view me
looking glass self
cooley - we learn to imagine how we appear to others
the judgement we imagine that other people may be making about us
our self-image is created based on the evaluations of others
eval of looking class self and identity
marxist and feminists - not free from structural form - identity product of dominant ideology imposed on the individual
interactionists choose small samples - generalisations difficult - methods seen as unreliable and subjective
herbert blumer
our actions based on meaning we attach to situations
meaning arise from interaction process
meaning we give to situations are result to interpretive procedures
role of the family
play is important role in development of self
taking role of others eg doctors - take into account the reactions of others so understand their actions generate specific reactions
role of educaction system
children active in their socialisation
- two way process
education can have significant effect in socialisation eg labelling however pupils can resist
role of media
media creates moral panics - scapegoat groups seen as threat to society
eg ethnic minority - folk devils
through negative labelling
evolution of agents of socialisation
postmodernists - these modernist views are outdates - growth of new media means audiences are no longer passive but actively decode messages
