interactionist Flashcards
intro
The main contribution of Interactionist theories is in how they help people to understand society from a ‘micro’ perspective. As such, Interactionists support the interpretivist approach to research by using qualitative methods, as stated in the item, as they believe people in society are ‘social actors’, performing different roles in different situations. However, Interactionists are criticised for failing to recognise the influence of structural forces on behaviour in society.
weber 1
Weber is seen as the founder of Interactionism. He argued that behaviour is influenced by both structural forces and the meanings that people give to their behaviour.
For example, Britain experienced a structural change when it adopted the Calvinist Protestant religion and this changed the meaning that people gave to work. With a belief in Calvinist Protestantism, work became a religious act or calling and Weber said it helped to inspire the growth of capitalism in Britain.
weber 2
According to Weber individuals are ‘social actors’ and to gain a full explanation society, it is necessary to understand the meanings that ‘actors’ give to their behaviour. He said behaviour could be explained according to its situation and its impact on others. In some situations, people will be influenced by emotions and in other cases people will be rational and motivated by efficiency.
In order to fully understand behaviour Weber said researchers must show empathy with the group being studied. Therefore, supporters of Weber use qualitative methods such as participant observation as they aim to achieve an understanding from the perspective of the group.
weber a03
However, critics of Weber say he fails to appreciate that the roles people perform are ultimately determined by the demands made by the economic, social and political system of a society. Capitalism developed in Britain because the business class were able to exploit both the natural resources of the country and a plentiful supply of labour in their search for greater profits.
mead 1
Nevertheless, Mead developed Interactionist theory by arguing that behaviour is influenced by the symbolic meanings people attach to the world. Individuals are able to interpret other people’s meanings by ‘taking the role of the other’; this means putting themselves in the place of the other person and seeing ‘ourselves as they see us’.
The ability to take the role of the other develops through social interaction from childhood, firstly with parents and then the wider community. Mead says to function as member of society it is vital for people to see themselves as others see them; through this interaction people know the behaviour that is expected of them.
mead 2
Mead said that the self is socially constructed through the interactions each person has with others in the community. Labelling theory says people obtain labels from how others view their behaviour.
Each individual is aware of how they are judged by others because he or she has attempted many different roles and functions in social interactions and has been able to gauge the reactions of those present. Cooley uses the idea of the ‘looking glass self’ to describe how people develop a self-concept. He argues that an ability to develop a self concept arises out of our ability to take the role of the other in social interactions. Others act as a looking glass to us, we see ourselves mirrored in the way they respond to us.
Through this process a self-fulfilling prophecy occurs because we become what others see us as. The label becomes part of the individual’s self-concept. Such thinking has inspired research into how labelling affects performance in schools, such as in ‘Pygmalion in the classroom’ by Rosenthal and Jacobson.
mead a03
However, whereas interactionism is supposed to be about individual’s having free will, labelling theory has been criticised for being deterministic, as it suggests our behaviour is shaped by the labels of others. It also said to fail to explain the origins of labels’ and in many ways the individual is seen as the passive victim of other people’s labels.
conc
In conclusion, Interactionists reject the functionalist view that roles are shaped by socialisation. Goffman says there is a gap between the ‘real self’ and the role. This view helps society to understand how ‘we are not really the roles we play’, as roles are open to interpretation and people can be deceived by the role a person plays as ‘appearances are everything’, for example in the case of an MP who condemns fraud in public office and is then convicted of false accounting himself.
