Social Action Theories Key Concepts Flashcards
Verstehen
Empathetic understanding. A method used to interpret the meanings and motives that guide action
Social action theory
Another name for symbolic interaction ism; social action theories focus on how society is built up from people interacting with each other
Ideal type
A classification of something into pure types- e.g weber’s types of action
Instrumentally rational action
Action in which both goals and the means to attain them are rationally assessed
Value-rational action
The goals are fixed and the means are rationally assessed
Traditional action
Both goals and means are fixed by tradition
Affective action
Action is directed by emotion, with no clearly defined goals
Rationalisation
A process by which the world is increasingly governed by rational thought and action
Disenchantment
The removal of religion, ‘magic’, warmth and humanity in an increasingly rational world
Secularisation
A process by which religion looses it’s power and influence in society
Symbolic interactionism
A theory associated with G.H. Mead that argues that people constantly work via symbols (language, writing,etc) to construct society through the process of social interaction
Role taking
Putting oneself in the place of others and seeing one sled from the point of view of others
Self
In Mead’s view, the self consists of 2 elements; the I and me
Significant others
Specific other people who matter to the individual
Generalised other
Society in general
Play stage
The first stage in which a child acquires a social self. Involves seeing themselves from the point of view of significant others
Game stage
The second stage in this process, where they see themselves from the point of view of groups rather than just individuals
Dramaturgical analogy
Seeing a similarity between society and drama, and using this to illuminate social interaction.
Impression management
The attempt by social actors to shape and control the impressions others have of then
Performance
Any activity of a participant in social interaction which influences other participants
Role distance
Distancing ourselves from the roles we are playing
Ethnomethodology
Emphasises upon interpretation and social order as the active accomplishment of members did indeed offer a new way of looking at social order
Typification
Any shared concept-e.g. Bacon, grass, death
Documentary method
The method used by members of society to make sense of the world around them. It involves selecting certain aspects of the situation, then using them as evidence of the underlying pattern. New situations are then interpreted in terms of this pattern
Reflexivity
As used by Garfinkel, explaining events in terms of underlying patterns and using these explanations to justify the existence of those patterns
Indexicality
The meaning of an action is derived from the context in which it takes place
