social action theory/ interactionalist/ interpretivist

Question 1

Structure v Action

Answer 1

Structural approaches emphasise how people are influenced by major structural forces
Social action theories - describe how individuals operate in society as relatively free agents creating identities for themselves

Question 2

Symbolic interactionalism

Answer 2

see society as built up by interactions between people that which take place on the basis of the meanings held by the individual
Meads theory - si - society is actively shaped by individuals and the meanings they attach to ‘everyday things’. Argues how humans interact through use of symbols. shared understanding and how to respond to them form basis of communication (red light = stop)
Blumer interactionism: 3 basic features
f1 - People act in terms of symbols (e.g. words) that stand for something and to which individuals have attached meanings + act in accordance with these meanings
f2 - Develop out of interaction with others and can change during course of interaction
f3 - Meanings arise from an interpretive process as people try to interpret meanings others give to their actions by placing themselves in their position. A successful interaction involves correctly interpreting what sort of person they are, what they expect from you and what you expect for them. contrasts structuralist approaches which see people as acting out roles handed down by the social structure
E: overcomes determinism of structuralist theories - recognise individuals have feelings/ act in terms of reason as opposed to puppets.

Question 3

Cooley - ‘looking glass self’

Answer 3

In interactions we come to see ourselves as others see us. Others act as a looking glass to us and we see our self mirrored in the way they respond to us - we may modify our behaviour e.g ex as ‘devil’ - Coley = ‘I am not what I think I am and I am not what you think I am; I am what I think you think I am’
E.g. - individual may see self as friendly but others as unfriendly they may try to adopt new self identity in accordance to how others see them.
E: This doesn’t pay attention to the structure of society e.g. power CGE inequalities

Question 4

Labelling theory

Answer 4

We all label people and objects
Those with power can label someone and make others accept that label
labelling of humans can lead to sfp (pupils label each other - sfp)
can become master status
E: Fails to explain where labels originate from - deterministic people can reject labels

Question 5

Goffman - impression management

Answer 5

Studied how people construct meanings + interpretation in process of interaction using the dramaturgical model - society being like a stage. People put on a show to try to convince others of the identity they want to assert - impression management.
Achieved by use of symbols (clothes)/ teachers backstage and frontstage behaviour
E: Recognises that people have reasons and motives for what they do

Question 6

Ethnomethodology

Answer 6

Methods of interpretive procedures people use to make sense of the world.
Argues social order = illusion and only appears to exist as people create it in their own minds- social reality is a social construction. E.g. understanding language involves lots of rules that’s why we can’t make sense of it until we learn rules such as capital letters.
E: Postmodernists suggest social action theory is as much as metanarrative as any other theory that claims to provide an explanation of social life