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Sociology - Crime and Deviance > Social Action theories > Flashcards

Social Action theories Flashcards

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1
Q

are social action theories macro or micro theories

A
  • social action theories are micro theories
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2
Q

what is a micro theory

A
  • looking and interpreting society through how individuals interact
  • prefer qualitative methods, e.g. interviews
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3
Q

what is Weber’s theory about

A
  • humans have free will
  • understanding why people do things is essential
  • we should try to gain an empathetic understanding of individuals (Verstehen)
  • accepts that structures exist which have influence
  • there is a level of cause + a level of meaning
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4
Q

define Weber’s term ‘Verstehen’

A
  • Verstehen = an empathetic understanding of individuals
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5
Q

outline Weber’s idea of the level of cause + level of meaning

A
  • the level of cause: the influence from structures
  • the level of meaning: the individual’s meaning attached to their action
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6
Q

what is the name of Weber’s case study

A
  • the Protestant Ethic and Spirit of Capitalism
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7
Q

outline Weber’s case study ‘Protestant Ethic and Spirit of Capitalism’

A
  • Calvinists are a branch of Christians who lead an ascetic lifestyle (shunning luxury/ material goods)
  • they’ve interpreted the bible as having to work for God - working very hard + for long hours, thus leading to accumulated wealth
  • this gave them the idea that they were in gods favour - so continued living this way; saving money, reinvesting in their businesses, making more profit etc
  • this led to the modern spirit of capitalism - generating money for the sake of generating more money
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8
Q

name Weber’s 4 types of action

A
  • instrumentally rational
  • value rational
  • traditional
  • affectual
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9
Q

explain Weber’s instrumentally rational action

A
  • where the actor calculates a most efficient means of achieving a goal
  • e.g. a capitalist would calculate that the most efficient way to maximize profits is low wages
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10
Q

explain Weber’s value rational action

A
  • action towards a goal that is desirable for their own sake but is not certain
  • e.g. a believer worshiping their God in order to enter heaven
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11
Q

explain Weber’s traditional action

A
  • customary, routine or habitual action - no conscious choice or thought has gone into it
  • e.g. saying ‘bless you’ to someone who has sneezed
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12
Q

explain Weber’s affectual action

A
  • actions that express emotion
  • e.g. sobbing out of grief
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13
Q

what is an internal AO3 evaluation of Weber’s social action theory

A
  • true micro theorists believe social structures are a social construct and shouldn’t have a role in the analysis of individual behaviour
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14
Q

what is an AO3 evaluation of Weber’s social action theory

A
  • Schutz: Weber’s view of action is too individualistic (doesn’t consider wider society) and fails to explain the shared nature meanings
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15
Q

outline Mead’s theory of Symbolic Interactionism

A
  • our behaviour isn’t fixed, but are pre-programmed instincts
  • we create a world of meanings by attaching symbols to it
  • is a micro theory
  • sociologists must understand the development of self
  • ‘taking the role of the other’
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16
Q

outline Mead’s cycle of symbolic interactionism

A

(with no start or end)
- → society → symbols → establish meanings → develop their views → communicate with each other

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17
Q

who are the 2 theorists who add onto Meads theory

A
  • Cooley
  • Blumer
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18
Q

what does Cooley add onto Mead’s theory

A
  • ‘looking glass self’: the idea that the image of ourselves is reflected back to us and individuals react accordingly
  • the process of socialisation is actively constructed by our interactions (symbolic interactionism)
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19
Q

what does Blumer add onto Mead’s theory

A

social interaction has 3 key principles:
- our actions are based on the meanings we give to situations/events/people
- these meanings are based on interactions we have experienced and aren’t fixed
- the meanings we give situations are the result of interactions

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20
Q

what are the 3 key interactionist concepts in the labelling theory

A
  • the definition of the situation
  • the looking glass self
  • career
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21
Q

what does Thomas say about the definition of the situation

A
  • Thomas: a definition of something labels it
  • e.g. if people define a situation as real, it will then have real consequences
  • e.g. if a teacher labels a student as ‘troublesome’, the teacher will act differently towards the pupil
22
Q

what does Cooley add onto Mead’s theory

A
  • the looking glass self:
  • Cooley argues our self concept arises from the ability of taking the role of the other
  • due to this, in interactions, our self is mirrored to us. from which the self prophecy occurs and we become what others see us as
  • through the looking glass self, the label becomes part of the individuals self concept, by taking on the role of mental patient
23
Q

outline the career in the labelling theory

A
  • a career is the stages through which an individual progresses their occupation
  • labelling theorists such as Becker and Lemert apply the concept to groups
  • e.g. for mental illness, an individual progresses through a career from pre patient to being discharged - each stage has its own status + problems
24
Q

outline Goffman’s dramaturgical model

A
  • describes how we actively construct our self by manipulating others impressions of us
  • Goffman does this through analogies of drama as a framework for analysing social interaction
  • we are all actors acting out scripts, using props, resting backstage, between performances that we present to our audiences
25
Q

outline Goffman’s concept of impression management

A
  • 2 dramaturgical concepts are: the presentation of self and impression management
  • we control the impression of our performance to present a particular image of ourselves
  • we do this by constantly monitoring our audience + their reactions
25
Q

outline the techniques for impression management

A
  • language, tone, facial expressions, props, settings
26
Q

outline the different settings and interactions in the dramaturgical analogy

A

-in theatre, there is a front stage, where we act out our roles and a back stage, where we can step out of our roles
- e.g. the classroom is the front stage where a individual puts on a performance for the teacher

26
Q

how does Goffman view roles

A
  • whilst functionalists view roles as tightly scripted/ formed by society, Goffman rejects this view and argues there is a role distance (gap) between our real selves + our roles
  • they are only loosely scripted by society
27
Q

outline 3 evaluations of symbolic interactionism

A
  • symbolic interactionism focuses on face to face interactions + ignores wider social structures such as class inequality
  • unlike functionalism, it cant explain the consistent patterns we observe in peoples behaviour (Funcs argue patterns are the result of norms dictating behaviour)
  • not all actions are meaningful and conscious - Weber outlines traditional action (action performed routinely and so has little meaning)
27
Q

what is Husserl’s phenomenology

A
  • we can only make sense of the world by categorising/ filing information from our senses + giving meaning to experiences
  • e.g. a four legged furniture for eating off of is categorised as a table
28
Q

outline Schutz’s phenomenological sociology

A
  • Schutz argues that Husserl’s categories are shared and are called typifications
28
Q

outline Schutz’s typifications

A
  • typifications enable us to organise our experiences into a world of shared meaning
  • meaning isnt given by the action but by its context - experiences vary depending on its social context
  • typifications stabilise and clarify meaning - without it social order wouldn’t be possible
28
Q

outline Schutz’s ‘recipe knowledge’

A
  • members of society do have shared life world - shared typifications/ knowledge used to make sense of our experiences
28
Q

what do Berger and Luckmann say

A
  • whilst Schutz is right to focus on common sense knowledge - they reject his view that society is an inter-subjective reality
  • although reality is socially constructed, once constructed it becomes an external reality that reacts back on us
28
Q

what type of theorist is Garkfinel

A
  • ethnomethodology
28
Q

how does Parsons argue that social order is created

A
  • through a shared value system into which we are socialised
29
Q

how does Garfinkel argue that social order is created

A
  • social order is created from the bottom up
  • social order is an accomplishment - something people actively construct in their daily lives
30
Q

outline Garkinel’s ‘indexicality’

A
  • nothing has a fixed meaning - its dependent on the context
  • indexicality is a threat to social order as if meaning is unclear, communication + social relationships can break down
31
Q

outline Garfinkel’s ‘reflexivity’

A
  • reflexivity enables us to behave as if meanings are fixed
  • it refers to how we use common sense in everyday life to construct meaning/ to avoid indexicality
  • language is vital to achieve reflexivity as our descriptions create reality
32
Q

outline Garfinkel’s experiments to disrupt social order

A
  • Garfinkel + his students conducted a series of ‘breaching experiments’
  • e.g. acting as a lodger with your family (being polite - at a distance)
  • this disrupted peoples sense of order - e.g. the parents became anxious, embarrassed
33
Q

outline Garfinkel’s view of suicide

A
  • in reflection of the methods used to achieve reflexivity;
  • in suicide; coroners identify cause of death form the possible known facts about the deceased - e.g. mental health, employment status
  • they use this info to conclude that suicides are by the mentally ill, unemployed etc
34
Q

outline 3 AO3 evaluations of ethnomethodology

A
  • Craib: its findings are trivial (vague) as EMs focus on uncovering unknown rules that are no surprise to anyone. e.g. during a phone call - typically only one person speaks at a time
  • EMs claim people create social order through producing explanations/ patterns that are fictitious - so EM must be fiction too
  • EMs ignore how structures of power + inequality affect individual’s meanings. Marx: ‘common sense knowledge’ is simply ruling class ideology to maintain capitalism
35
Q

outlines Giddens concept of a duality of structure

A
  • structure + action (agency) are the same and co-dependent
36
Q

Giddens: define structuration

A
  • structuration = our actions produce + reproduce structures whilst these structures are what make our actions possible
37
Q

Giddens: what is an example of structuration

A
  • e.g. Language: the structure of grammar rules govern how we express meaning. grammar exists independently but controls our actions - if we want to communicate, we must follow the rules of grammar
38
Q

Giddens: outline the reproduction of structures through agency

A
  • structure has 2 elements: rules (norms that govern action) + resources (money, power)
  • these 2 elements can be produced + reproduced through action - typically action reproduces existing structures
39
Q

Giddens: what are the 2 reasons that action reproduce structures

A
  • society contains knowledge on how to live (rules). similarly we use resources (e.g. money) to live; thus our routine reproduces structures
  • also, due to our need for ‘ontological security’, we reproduce structures through action as it encourages action that maintains structures
40
Q

Giddens: what is ontological security

A
  • ontological security = a need to feel that our world is as it appears to be - especially stable
41
Q

what are the 2 reasons why action or agency can change structures

A
  • we reflexively monitor our own action in which we can deliberately choose a new course of action. this is more common in modern society, as tradition has less influence over our actions
  • secondly, our actions may have unintended consequences. e.g. in Weber’s study of Calvinists, their work ethic was intended to glorify God - but unintentionally created modern capitalism
42
Q

outline 3 evaluations of Giddens

A
  • actors can change structures simply by deciding to. Archer argues G. underestimates the capacity of structures to resist change
  • Craib argues the structuration theory isn’t a theory as it fails to explain what occurs in society - but the things we’ll find when we study society
  • Craib also argues that G. fails to unite structure + action as he fails to apply his ideas to large scale structures

Sociology - Crime and Deviance (2 decks)

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