Theories Topic 2 : Social Action Theories

Question 1

Weber

Answer 1

Saw structural and action approaches as necessary for an understanding of behaviour

Sociology should aim to understand the subjective meanings that individuals attach to their actions

Still acknowledged existence of social structures and their aspects such as status groups and social class.

Verstehen is necessary - to understand the way they look at the world and how this influences their actions.

Question 2

G.H Mead - symbols vs instincts

AO1

Answer 2

We see the world via symbols (things we attach meanings to)

Symbols vs instincts = unlike animals, our behaviour is not shaped by fixed instincts

We respond to the world by creating meanings by attaching symbols (structuralist theorists would say we were socialised to act in certain ways)

Humans have an interpretative phase - before we respond to someone’s action, we have to interpret its meaning (eg clenching a fist is a symbol that has many possible meanings - is the person genuinely angry, or just joking?)

Question 3

G.H. Mead - Taking on the role of the other

AO1

Answer 3

We interpret people’s meanings by taking on the role of the other - putting ourselves in the place of the other person and seeing ourselves how they see us

How do we do this? (Through social interaction)
= as children, we imitate significant others (parents) through play. We learn to see ourselves how they see us (primary socialisation)
= later we see ourselves from the pov of the wider community - the generalised other (secondary socialisation)

For Mead, to function in society, we need to see ourselves as others see us - this can be done through shared symbols, especially language

Through this, we can become conscious of the ways of acting that others require of us

Question 4

AO3 of Mead (strengths and weaknesses)

Answer 4

Strengths:

It shows that humans create and negotiate meanings, and make sense of the world through interactions with others

It recognises, unlike structuralism, that to explain people’s actions, it is necessary to understand the motivations and meanings people attach to their behaviour, and how they share these with others through everyday interaction

Weaknesses:

It doesn’t pay attention to the structures of society, such as power, class, gender and ethnic inequalities which constrain individual behaviour. People do not have free choices - poverty, racism, patriarchy are real and not socially constructed

Functionalists - there is no negotiation of actions. Instead, socialisation and social control ensure that people conform to society’s norms and act in predictable ways, maintaining a value consensus

Question 5

Blumer AO1

Answer 5

Built upon Mead’s work and first used the term ‘symbolic interactionism’ - society being built up by interactions between people which take place on the basis of meanings held by individuals

He suggests interactionism has 3 basic features:
1. Our actions are based on the meanings we give to situations, events and people etc. - unlike animals, we don’t have an automatic response to stimuli
2. These meanings develop out of the interaction of an individual with others, and can change during the course of the interaction
3. The meaning we give to situations are the result of the interpretative procedures we use - especially taking the role of the other

Question 6

How does Blumer criticise the structural approaches?

Answer 6

Functionalists see the individual as passively responding to the system - through socialisation and social control (conforming to society and acting in predictable ways)

However, Blumer argues that ALTHOUGH our actions are partly predictable because we internalise the expectations of others, it is NOT completely fixed

There is always some from for negotiation and choice in how we perform our roles

Question 7

AO3 of blumer (strengths and weaknesses)

Answer 7

Strengths:

It shows that humans create and negotiate meanings, and make sense of the world through interactions with others

It recognises, unlike structuralism, that to fully explain people’s actions and the creation of social order, it is necessary to understand the motivations and meanings people attach to their behaviour, and how they share these with others through everyday interaction

Weaknesses:

It doesn’t pay attention to the structures of society, such as power, class, gender and ethnic inequalities which constrain individual behaviour. People do not have free choices - poverty, racism, patriarchy are real and not socially constructed

Functionalists - there is no negotiation of actions. Instead, socialisation and social control ensure that people conform to society’s norms and act in predictable ways, maintaining a value consensus

Question 8

The looking glass self - Cooley

AO1

Answer 8

(Criticism of Functionalism, Marxism and Feminism)

The image of ourselves is reflected back to us (like a mirror) in the views of others - we consider this image that is reflected in the reactions of others and may modify our behaviour

Our social roles are NOT handed down by the social structure - they are socially constructed and subject to change

Can lead to an SFP - we become what others see us as

The task of sociology is to understand:
1. How the meanings individuals give to situations are constructed in face-to-face interaction
2. How situations come to be labelled in particular ways
3. The consequences of individual behaviour for such definitions, as people will behave according to the way they see situations

Question 9

The looking glass self - Cooley

AO3 (strengths and weaknesses)

Answer 9

Strengths:

Provides insight into how the social construction of meanings through interaction has consequences for individuals - eg how streaming and labelling in education can create an SFP of success or failure, and how the labelling of deviance can lead to deviant careers

They try to overcome determinism

Weaknesses:

Generally regarded as a voluntaristic view that emphasises choice in how we act. But labelling is deterministic - it sees our actions and identities as shaped by the way others label them
= not everyone negatively labelled will fail or have a deviant career (EG Mary fuller)

Too much focus on face-to-face interactions and ignores wider social structures such as class inequality. Cannot explain consisten patterns in people’s behaviour (like functionalists and Marxists can)

Ignore the origin of meaning - something feminists and Marxists try to explain (eg class / gender conflict). Meanings are not spontaneously created in interaction situations - they are systematically generated by the social structure

Question 10

Labelling theory AO1

Answer 10

3 key interactionist concepts that underpin labelling theory:

1. The definition of a situation: W.I. Thomas argued that if we define something, we label it. If we believe it to be true, it will affect how we act and the consequences that follow (EG teacher labelling student as troublesome - act more harsh towards them)
2. The looking glass self (Cooley) - idea of how we develop our self-concept. Through interactions, we see ourselves how others see us = like a mirror = SFP = we become what others see us as, even if not true
3. The process of labelling can lead to a master status and then a deviant career or the development of mental illness

Symbolic interactionists suggest that people label / define individuals + situations in ways which will affect how those labelled will behave

Question 11

Labelling theory AO2

Answer 11

Education:
Teachers have a preconceived idea of the IDEAL PUPIL (Becker)
= students who fail to meet this ideal are labelled negatively and treated as if they are failures
Leads ti an SFP (Rosenthal and Jacobson)

Crime:
Becker - amplification spiral
Lemert - Primary and secondary deviance
Cicourel - negotiation of justice

Question 12

Labelling theory AO3

Answer 12

Strengths:

Provides insight into how the social construction of meanings through interaction has consequences for individuals - eg how streaming and labelling in education can create an SFP of success or failure, and how the labelling of deviance can lead to deviant careers

Weaknesses:

Generally regarded as a voluntaristic view that emphasises choice in how we act. But labelling is deterministic - it sees our actions and identities as shaped by the way others label them
= not everyone negatively labelled will fail or have a deviant career (EG Mary fuller)

Too much focus on face-to-face interactions and ignores wider social structures such as class inequality. Cannot explain consisten patterns in people’s behaviour (like functionalists and Marxists can)

Ignore the origin of meaning - something feminists and Marxists try to explain (eg class / gender conflict). Meanings are not spontaneously created in interaction situations - they are systematically generated by the social structure

Question 13

Goffman and Impression management AO1

Answer 13

People actively construct their ‘self’ by manipulating other’s impressions of us (we have complete autonomy, despite labels)

Dramaturgical model - we are all ‘actors’ acting out ‘scripts’ using ‘props’ and resting backstage between ‘performances’ - The aim is to convince the audience of the role we are trying to adopt (= IMPRESSION MANAGEMENT)

We have to control our appearance - adapting to how the audience responds

Criticises functionalists who argue that roles are tightly ‘scripted’ by society + we internalise our scripts through socialisation. Functionalists believe that society determines how we perform roles
He rejects functionalist’s theory on roles - he argues there is a ‘gap’ between our real self and our roles (AO3 : functionalists + role allocation)

Question 14

Goffman and Impression management AO2

Answer 14

How politicians present themselves (BJ)

Goffman’s study of total institutions - closed environments with strict hierarchy and loss of individual identity - may conform to rules to avoid punishments. They may also present themselves in a favorable light with staff or fellow inmates to maintain social status

THIS PROVES how individuals adapt their presentation of self in response to institutional pressures.

Question 15

Goffman and Impression management AO3

Strengths and Weaknesses

Answer 15

Strengths

It shows that humans create and negotiate meanings, and make sense of the world through interactions with others

It recognises, unlike structuralism, to fully explain people’s actions and the creation of social order, it is necessary to understand the motivations and meanings people attach to their behaviour, and how they share these with others through everyday interactions

Weaknesses:

Loads of our actions are unrehearsed - this idea is unrealistic as humans do not follow scripts and they can be affected by social structures such as poverty / patriarchy / capitalism and labelling

Ignore the origin of meaning - something feminists and Marxists try to explain (eg class / gender conflict). Meanings are not spontaneously created in interaction situations - they are systematically generated by the social structure

Question 16

What is ethnomethodology ?

Answer 16

Refers to the interpretative procedures people use to construct order in their lives, not through looking at meanings behind actions (like symbolic interactionists)

Question 17

How is ethnomethodology different to other theories, including interactionism

Answer 17

Rejects the view that society has any kind of social structure or social order

Question 18

Features of ethnomethodology

Answer 18

We construct social order using common sense knowledge

There is no such thing as a fixed social order

Indexicality - nothing has a fixed meaning, everything is a social construct - meanings behind actions become unclear which can cause social breakdown
= therefore we must not take for granted the meanings behind actions

Reflexivity - we use our common sense knowledge to construct the meaning of an action to stop indexicality from occurring

Question 19

Ethnomethodology AO2

2 examples

Answer 19

Study of suicide - use of reflexivity

Coroners possess a ‘common sense knowledge’ of suicide cases - EG the deceased was mentally ill and the
ways in which the act was carried out to classify it as a suicide

Therefore when coroners are faced with a suicide, they will use their mentality and look for patterns to
classify the act as suicide.

THIS PROVES that we create patterns + ideas around certain actions to create order + meaning, generating ‘common sense knowledge’ ourselves

‘Breaching experiments’ - to expose people’s taken-for-granted assumptions

Students acted as visitors in their own homes - recorded how their parents reacted to the sudden change in the taken-for-granted relationship (anger, confusion, bewilderment)
= THIS PROVES that people create social order through assumptions and meanings shared with others
= THIS PROVES that social order created around these shared assumptions is fragile, not inevitable (AO3 for functionalism)

Question 20

AO3 for ethnomethodology

Answer 20

Strength:
Highlights how we actively construct order, rather than being passive

Weaknesses:
Marxists - common sense knowledge is a RC ideology
Functionalists - there is a wider structure of shared meaning which is known as society’s norms

Question 21

Who are the 2 main sociologists associated with the integrated approaches

Answer 21

Weber and Giddens

Question 22

Integrated approaches

Answer 22

Combines structuralism and social action theories

Recognises the importance of both the constraints of social structure and the possibility for choice

Question 23

Weber’s sociology

Answer 23

Emphasised the importance of understanding the meanings people hold
= Verstehen (AO2 Venkatesh)

Criticised structuralists for their determinism - recognised that people had choice and not puppets to structures

Didn’t dismiss importance of social structures especially inequality

Question 24

AO2 of Weber’s sociology

Answer 24

Weber’s study of the emergence of capitalism in Western Europe

He identified the significance of religious ideas (Protestant ethic in the Calvinism) that people had in generating change in the social structure
= these ideas were a major reason as to why capitalist industrialisation developed first in Western Europe

THIS PROVES that explaining society involves understanding the meanings for people’s actions (EG meaning of Protestantism to Protestants) through Verstehen, and the influence of social structure (EG the level of development of the economy)

Question 25

Giddens’s theory of structuration

Answer 25

Structuration - 2 way process where people are constrained by social institutions, but they can simultaneously take action to change them (this change occurs through reflexivity as people reflect on how they live their life)
= social structure provides a framework of rules that enable them to live in society - by doing so they are reproducing the structure. Simultaneously they can change this structure by ignoring or modifying rules

Duality of structure - structures only exist because of people’s actions, and people can only act because the structures enable meaningful action to occur

Question 26

AO2 for Giddens’s theory of structuration

Answer 26

Legal system

People are constrained by the law to behave in certain ways - people conforming to the law allows it to continue to exist

However, the law can only continue as long as people continue to conform to it
= Giddens - people use reflexivity and may decide some laws are no longer relevant to the way they live their life, so choose to break them

EG cannabis laws - as people have reflected and chosen cannabis as part of a leisure lifestyle, they may break the law - this leads to the law having to be abandoned or changed

THIS PROVES that we have the power reinforce or change structures
THIS PROVES that social structures, like the law, can constrain human action, and also enable human action to take place
THIS PROVES that people constantly reproduce these structures by their actions in supporting them - simultaneously people can also act to change that social structure

Question 27

AO3 of integrated approaches

Answer 27

Structuralists: they over-exaggerate people’s autonomy to change social structures, and they underestimate the constraints on individual choices

Action theorists: they understate people’s autonomy to change social structures, and they overestimate the constraints on individual choice

Question 28

AO3 of social action theories

Answer 28

Strengths:

Shows how humans create meanings, and make sense of the world either through interactions (symbolic interactionism) or through their own common sense knowledge (ethnomethodology)
= this highlights how people are not puppets to the system and thus overcomes determinism

Recognises that (unlike structuralism) it is necessary to understand the meanings people attach to behaviour, to fully explain their actions and the creation of social order

Provides insight into how the social construction of meanings through interaction has consequences for individuals - EG how streaming + labelling in education can lead to an SFP (Rosenthal and Jacobson), and how the labelling of deviance can lead to deviant careers

Weaknesses:

Overly voluntaristic - doesn’t pay attention to the structures of society (class, gender, ethnic inequalities) and the constraints on behaviour that come from these. Differences in life chances are real

It does not explain people’s motivations - where do people get their meanings from?

Ignores the distribution of power in society - not everyone has the same chance of getting their meanings across to others

Postmodernists: action theory is a meta narrative that attempts to explain all aspects of life