Symbolic interactionism Flashcards
G.H. Mead
(Symbols vs Instincts)
- Unlike animals, our behaviour isnt shaped by programmed instincts, we shape the world by giving things meanings
- We do this by attatching symbols to the world
- We don’t automatically respond, an interpretive phase comes in between the stimulus and response, we have to interpret its meaning
- E.G when a dog snarls at another dog it gets defensive, when a person shakes a fist the symbol has lots of meanings
G.H. Mead
(Taking the role of the other)
- We interpret other people’s meanings by taking the role of the other
- Develops through social interaction, such as young children playing as parents
- Later we see ourselves from the generalised other
Herbert Blumer
Identifies 3 key principles:
1. Actions are based on the meanings we give to things
2. These meanings arise from the interaction process
3. Meanings we give to situations are the result of the interpretive process
- Functionalism sees individuals as puppents responding to system’s needs, actions are predictable due to socialisation/social order
- Blumer- actions are partly predictable bc we internalise the expectations of others
Labelling theory
Labeling theorists use interactionist concepts: definition of the situation, looking glass self, career
Labelling theory
( definition of the situation)
- A definition of something is a label for that thing
Thomas:
* If people define a situation as real, it will have real consequences
e.g. if a teacher labels a boy as troublesome, the teacher is likely to act differently to him
Labelling theory
(The looking glass self)
Cooley:
* Uses this idea to describe how we develop our self concept
* Self concept arises from our ability to take the role of the other
* SFP arises - we become what other see us as
Labelling thoerists use this and the defintion of a situation to understand the effects of labelling e.g. someone may find that relatives define him as mentally ill and treat him differently, it becomes a part of their concept and a SFP is created
Labelling theory
(Career)
Becker and Lemert:
* Extend the concept to groups such as medical students
* In relation to a mental illness, we see a person having a career from ‘pre-patient’ through labelling by a psychiatirst, to discharge
* Mental patient may become our master status, same as careers do
Labelling theory hasd been accused of determinsim
Goffman’s dramaturgical model
- Describes how we actively construct our self by manipulating people’s image of us
- Uses analogies with drama as a framework for analysing social interaction
- Our aim is to carry out a convincing performance of the role we have adopted
Goffman’s dramaturgical model
(Impression management)
- Two key dramaturgical concepts are the presentation of self and impression management
- For Goffman, we seek to present a particular image of ourselves to our audience, to do so we must control the impression our performance gives, involving constantly studying our audience to see how they are responding
- As social actors, we may have many techniques for impression managements such as tone, language, gestures
Goffman’s dramaturgical model
(Roles)
- Functionalists see roles as tightly scripted by society and we internalise them through socialisation
- Goffman rejects this, he argues that there is a role distance between our real self and our roles
- Roles are loosley scripted by society and we have a good deal of freedom in how we play them
Evaluation of symbolic interactionism
- Largely avoids the determinism of structural theories such as functionalims, recognises that people create society through their choices
- Focuses on face to face interactions and ignores wider social structures such as class inequailty, and it fails to explain the origin of labels
- Not all action is meaningful - like Weber’s category of traditional action, much of it is performed unconsciously
- EM argues that interactionsim is correct in focusing on actors meanings, but it fails to explain how they create meanings
