interactionism Flashcards
what are the 3 key thinkers of interactionism?
George Herbert Mead, Herbert Blumer, Erving Goffman
what was Mead a part of?
the Chicago School
what did the Chicago school promote?
New interpretivist framework becoming mainstream outside of the positivist perspective
what else did Mead promote?
pragmatism
what are the 4 ideas which define pragmatism?
- “Reality” does not exist “out there”, it is actively created as we act in and toward the world during interactions
- People base their knowledge of the world on what is useful and what works – notion of what is true in positivism and interactionism differs, uninterested in objective truth
- People define the social and physical ‘objects’ they encounter according to their use for them
- Our understanding of actors should be based on what they actually do – practical interactions and actions
where else did Herbert Mead end up working?
the University of Michigan
who was Mead associated with at the University of Michigan?
Charles Cooley and John Dewey
who was William James?
a famous pragmatist
what did William James look at within the Varieties of Religious Experience?
Looked at all different modes of experiencing the divine
what perspective did William James take within the Varieties of Religious Experience?
Took all his findings very seriously, as he believed they are real because they have an effect since people’s lives are changed due to these experiences
How did Mead feel ‘the self’ emerged?
the self emerges in sociality
How can humans also see themselves which separates them from other animals? (2)
Ability to imagine other perspectives and thus see themselves as objects
what are 4 aspects of the formation of the self?
imitation, role play, games, the generalised other
how did Mead feel about the world?
it pre-exists us, so we are thrown into a world with pre-existing meaning
what is imitation?
refers to the initial play of infants to imitate adults eg gender roles
what is role play? how does this make humans different from other animals?
human language allows for more complex forms of role play than other animals, seeing ourselves from other points of view due to the ability to swap roles
what are games?
appreciation of lots of different perspectives, which help children understand the more general workings of social life
what is the generalised other?
all the other ways we see ourselves, which affects how we act, children learn to adopt the attitudes of a social group or society
what are the 2 aspects of the self?
I and the me
what does I refer to within the aspects of the self?
subject position, creative and imaginative side of the self
what purpose does the I have within the aspects of the self?
helps to create change rather than just reflecting society
what does me refer to within the aspects of the self?
view of others on yourself, the judgemental and controlling side of the self
what purpose does the me have within the aspects of the self?
reflects the attitudes of other members of society, the embodied aspect of the structure vs agency paradigm
how do the I and the me interact?
The I counteracts the social constraining force of the Me, and the Me counteracts the individuality of the I
how do interactionists feel about structure and agency?
Do not exist separately from each other, only to be understood as interactional beings between structure and agency
what did Mead reject?
strict social determinism
what did Blumer add to Mead’s work?
coined ‘symbolic interactionism’
where was Blumer also based?
the Chicago school
how did the Chicago school practice sociology?
Used Chicago as a case study to practice new ideas as they were interested in contemporary modern industrialised settings
how did Blumer feel about natural science methods?
didn’t believe it was possible as they were dealing with fundamentally different things
what are the 3 key features of symbolic interactionism?
- Humans act towards things on the basis of the meanings they have for them
- Those meanings are different for different people
- Meaning is created around objects, and can change
how did Brewer define ethnography? (3)
- Study of people in naturally occurring settings
- Researcher participates directly in the setting, if not also the activities
- Aim is to not impose meaning externally
how did Goffman describe ethnography?
Humans create lives of their own which make sense once the researcher gets used to it, and therefore you should submit yourself to the participants world to be able to understand it
what was Stoller and Olkes study?
Long-term participant observation with the Songhay people in Niger who practice sorcery
what happened to Stoller?
Stoller became an apprentice to a sorcerer, and learnt the practices of sorcery then had an experience – middle of the night he was paralysed in his body, under attack from a local witch, doesn’t know what to do, after a long time begins to recite words he had learnt and gradually the paralysis left
how did this affect Stoller?
Troubled his foundational ontology
how did Goffman describe the self?
The self does not exist fundamentally, it is a dramatic effect related directly to its environment
how did Goffman view the world within The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life?
a dramaturgical approach, life as a series of dramatic performances
what is impression management?
techniques used to present an image that is accepted by others
what 2 components make up Goffman’s theoretical analogy?
front stage and back stage
what happens front stage?
where the performance is given, individuals conform to the social role that is expected
what happens back stage?
preparation for performances, also can conceal aspects of ourselves that are not part of our on-stage performances
what were Goffman’s findings in Asylums based on?
12 months of ethnographic fieldwork carried out between 1955-1956 at St. Elizabeth’s psychiatric Hospital in Washington DC
what was the aim of Asylums?
to learn about the social world of the hospital patients – what was their experience?
what did Asylums change?
Had a significant effect on changing how these hospitals were organised, as well as in other institutions
what are total institutions?
A closed environment in which the time and space of inmates can be controlled, removed from other aspects of societies
what are some examples of total institutions? (6)
prison, monastery, care homes, military barracks, boarding school or mental hospital
what are 4 elements to total institutions?
- All aspects of life are conducted under a single authority
- Activities are conducted in the company of a batch of others, who are all treated alike
- There is a rigid timetable of events, governed by formal rules
- All activities are designed to fulfil the overall, official aims of the institution
what is the mortification of the self?
mark a clear separation between the inmates’ former selves and their institutional selves
how is the mortification of the self carried out? (4)
- Inmates lose their civilian clothes and rights, they have limited privacy and they are forced to endure ‘batch living’
- Personal territories are invaded, damaging personal information is publicly aired, pictures taken, hair cut, personal belongings removed
- Inmates are disinfected of identifications and lose their identity kits
- The institution crushes any sense of self-importance
what are adaption strategies?
inmates adapt in different ways to the social setting
what 4 different adaption strategies did Goffman identify?
situational withdrawal intransigent line
colonisation
conversion
what is situational withdrawal?
completely withdrew from interaction from others, cut off from the situation
what is intransigent line?
rebellion, breaking as many rules as possible
what is colonisation?
certain patients would compare their life inside to what they imagined life would be like outside and justified their life as better in the institution
what is conversion?
taking on the medical discourse of those in authority in the institution, accepted the doctor’s diagnosis of them and so converted (institutionalisation)
what are the aim of adaption strategies?
rational attempts to preserve a sense of their own identity
what was Goffman critical of?
the medical and scientific claims of psychiatrists
how did Goffman say psychotic behaviour was found?
by not abiding by the rules governing everyday behaviour – if you break these rules, you will risk people doubting your sanity
how does Scott argue shyness can be seen?
Shyness can be seen in a symbolic interactionist way, instead of psychologically
how can shyness can be seen as socially negotiated?
elements of self-consciously strategic performance, dramaturgical stress, and the anticipation of harsh social reactions
how can front stage and back stage be seen in application to shyness?
maintains a rigid division between their backstage and front stage regions, and extremely wary of making the transition from one to the other
how can shy individuals ‘pass’?
able to manipulate aspects of the front stage setting and scenery to seem as if they are not shy
