SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM Flashcards
Concerned with understanding?
The meanings and interpretations of participants
GEORGE HERBERT MEAD
1863-1931
University of Chicago
Moved away from positivism
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Human mind has the ability to deal with ………. ?
MEANING
Meanings are learned through dealing with other people
Transforms the biological human organism into a social being
PRAGMATISM is contrast to?
Positivism
PRAGMATISM 1
‘Reality’ does not exist ‘out there’ it actively created as we act towards the world. Knowledge is indeterminate.
PRAGMATISM 2
People base their knowledge (truth/reality) on the world on what is USEFUL and what WORKS (dismiss things that don’t work)
PRAGMATISM 3
People DEFINE the social and physical ‘objects’ they encounter according to their use for them
PRAGMATISM 4
Our understanding of actors should be based on what they actually do (practical interactions)
THE SELF emerges in?
Social activity (eg education from our family, school, social groups we belong) and relationships
Humans can see themselves as?
OBJECTS (this is what distinguishes us from other animals) We can see ourselves how others would view us
THE FORMATION OF THE SELF (4 things as children)
1) IMITATION
2) ROLE PLAY (we ability to swap roles, begin to perceive
ourselves from other points of view)
(also, human LANGUAGE allows for more complex
forms of role play than other animals)
3) GAMES
4) THE GENERALISED OTHER (attitudes of social group or
society)
TWO ASPECTS OF THE SELF is embodiment of?
Structure vs Agency
What are they?
The ‘subjective’ I
- Creative and imaginative, creates change rather than
simply reflecting society
The ‘objective’ me
- Judgemental and controlling. Represents the views of the
generalised other/ how others see us
LINKS TO COOLEY’S ‘LOOKING GLASS SELF’
- We imagine how we appear to others
- We imagine the judgment of that appearance
- We develop our self ( identity ) through the judgments of others.
INDIVIDUALS AND SOCIETY
- Do not exist separately from one another
- Only to be understood through INTERACTION
- Society depends on functioning of ‘I’ and ‘me’
(how ‘me’ conforms to society)
Why does Mead reject strict social determinism?
Social Determinism = accepting ALL aspects of the ‘me’ and fully conforming to society through the meanings OTHERS give us
( eg Marx, economic determinism = economics shapes everything in society )
- HOWEVER because we also have the ‘subjective’ I, we
have the ability to go against social norms
HERBERT BLUMER (1900-87)
- Highlighted the social implications of Mead’s social
philosophy - Coined the term SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM
Why was it a strong critique of positivism?
- It moved from social STRUCTURE to social INTERACTION
- Concerned with the MEANINGS and INTERPRETATIONS
and these were DIFFERENT for different people - There are not ‘facts’ out there independent of social
actors, as people interpret social reality differently
Symbolic significance?
- Humans act towards things on the basis of the MEANING
they have for them.
eg certain things gain SYMBOLIC SIGNIFICANCE ‘mother’
can change meaning due to the social setting
AND
can change over TIME as life continues
ETHNOGRAPHY - Brewer 2008
Goffman agrees with this
Study of people in NATURALLY OCCURRING settings by means of methods which capture SOCIAL MEANINGS and ORDINARY activities
Basically…
Participating/ immersing yourself in another world to understand it from within/ their point of view
Example of ethnography? Stoller?
SONGHAY SORCERY
- Knew their were some scientific (positivist) explanations
for this ‘magic’
- Became a sorcerer’s apprentice
- Got paralysed by a sorceress
- Had to use their methods to heal himself
- He was more than just observing now
- Troubles his FOUNDATIONALIST ONTOLOGY and
REJECTS POSITIVISM. He could NOT translate methods
of the natural science to social science, it would NOT
work
ERVING GOFFMAN (1922-82)
Didn’t self define as a symbolic interactionist but links closely
How does THE PRESENTATION OF SELF IN EVERYDAY LIFE link to symbolic interactionism?
DRAMATURGICAL APPROACH - life as a series of dramatic performances
= the ‘subjective’ I
IMPRESSION MANAGEMENT - techniques used to present an image that is accepted by others
= the ‘objective’ me
A THEATRICAL ANALOGY?
Both created in INTERACTION with others
FRONT STAGE
Where the performance is given. Individuals conform to the social role that is accepted
BACK STAGE
Preparation for performances. Can conceal aspects of ourselves that are not part of our on stage performances
How does ASYLUMS (1961) (Goffman’s most cited and controversial work) show the power of the interactionist approach?
- Based on 12 months ETHNOGRAPHIC fieldwork
- Aim was to learn about the social world of hospital
inmates (perspective of the patients)
What are TOTAL INSTITUTIONS?
- Closed environment in which the time and space of
inmates can be controlled
(the experience of inmates in any total institution (prison,
mental hospital, boarding school) will be VERY SIMILAR)
THE MORTIFICATION OF SELF
- Lose clothes and rights
- Limited privacy
- Loss of identity & sense of self importance
ADAPTION STRATEGIES
1) SITUATIONAL WITHDRAWAL
2) INTRANSIGENT LINE (rebelling)
3) COLONISATION (life inside is better than outside)
4) CONVERSION (accepted doctor’s definition of insanity)
IRONY = all attempts to preserve identity
How did Goffman readily reject the psychiatrist/ positivist approach?
He radically changed the way patients were dealt with
- Very critical of medical and SCIENTIFIC claims of
‘psychopaths’ - He saw psychotic behaviour as not abiding by rules that
govern ‘EVERYDAY BEHAVIOUR’
(by breaking these rules your sanity is doubted)
How did he see ‘insanity’?
He saw insanity as a BEHAVIOURAL issue not a SCIENTIFIC/ MEDICAL issue.
It was down to not conforming to societal norms
DRAMATURGICAL DILEMMAS IN SHYNESS (Scott 2005)
- Symbolic interactionism RELOCATES shyness in its social
context (away from psychological study, rejection of
positivist approach) - Shyness is SOCIALLY NEGOTIATED and emerges from
everyday interaction
How does this link to Goffman’s front/ back stage divide?
Shy ‘subjective’ ‘I’ (BACKTAGE)
PRIVATE feelings of inhibition
Recoil from ‘front stage’ encounters
Barrier to interaction
BACKSTAGE REHEARSALS ARE CONDUCTED TO IMPROVE FRONT STAGE PERFORMANCE
Shy ‘objective’ me
Reflects on image from audience’s perspective, generalised other switches to the ‘competent other’ who is confident
FURTHER READING
‘The role of products as a social stimuli: a symbolic interactionist perspective’ was written by whom?
SOLOMON (1983)
How are products a guide to social roles performance?
It looks at…
- HOW products are used by consumers in everyday social
life - and how the consumers relies on SOCIAL MEANINGS
inherent in products
as a GUIDE TO SOCIAL ROLES PERFORMANCE
Products serve as a ______ to social behaviour?
STIMULUS
- Using symbolic interactionism stresses the importance of
product symbolism in defining role performances
