Symbolic Interactionist Theory

Question 1

Symbolic Interactionism

Answer 1

• micro-level
  -focuses on meanings attached to human interaction (both verbal, non-verbal, and symbols)

-Communication–> (the exchange of meaning through language and symbols) is believed to be the way in which people make sense of their social words

Question 2

Charles Horton Cooley

Answer 2

-looking-glass self
^describe how a person’s sense of self grows out of interactions with others
-proposed a threefold process
-we “see” ourselved when we interact with others

Question 3

George Herbert Mead

Answer 3

-founder of symbolic interactionism

-a student of his coined the term
-& 3 basic premises
1. humans interact with things based on meanings ascribed to those things
2. the ascribed meaning of things comes from our interactions with others and society
3.the meanings of things are interpreted by a person when dealing with things in specific circumstances

similar to Cooley’s looking-glass self but Mead’s contribution was really to the development of self (especially in childhood)

Question 4

Social Scientist

Answer 4

-when applying symbolic interactionist thinking look for patterns of interaction between individuals
-studies invlove observation of 1on1 interactions

Question 5

Social Scientist ex

Answer 5

while a conflict theorist studying a political protest might focus on class difference, a symbolic interactionist would be more interested in how individuals in the protesting group interact, as well as the signs and symbols protesters use to communicate their message and to negotiate and thus develop shared meanings.

Question 6

Evering Goffman

Answer 6

-the importance of interaction in building a society led him to develop a technique called dramaturgical analysis
- he used theater as an analogy for social interaction AND ^ recognized that peoples’ interactions showed patterns of cultural “scripts”

Question 7

Studies that use symbolic interactionist perspective

Answer 7

-more likely to use qualitative research methods (in-depth interviews or participant observation) bc they seek to understand the symbolic worlds in which research subjects live

Question 8

dramaturgical analysis

Answer 8

a technique sociologists use in which they view society through the metaphor of theatrical performance, including role improvisation

Question 9

Constructivism

Answer 9

-an extension of symbolic interaction theory
-:proposes that reality is what humans cognitively construct it to be

• we develop social constructs based on interactions with others, and those constructs that last over time are those that have meanings which are widely agreed-upon or generally accepted by the most within the society

Question 10

CRITICISM

Answer 10

-scrutinized bc of the difficulty of remaining objective
-extremely narrow focus on symbolic interaction
-critsized for not paying enough attention to social institutions and structural constraints

ex)the interactions between a police officer and a Black man are different than the interactions between a police officer and a white man. Addressing systemic inequalities within the criminal justice system, including pervasive racism, is essential for an interactionist understanding of face-to-face interactions.