Theory Flashcards
Interactionism - Social Action Theories
Different branches of action theory: Weberianism, symbolic interactionism, phenomenology > ethnomethodology
Basics:
- social structures = social construction
- voluntarism - people have free choice and free will
- micro approach; focus on the individual/small group
- behaviour is driven by beliefs, meanings and feelings
- interpretivist methodology
Interactionism - Symbolic Interactionism
^^^ George Herbert Mead
“The development of an individual was a social process, as were the meaning people assign to things”
- people decide to assign meanings to things so they can decide how they will act
Term symbolic interactionism - Blumer
3 tenants:
- we act based on the meaning we give something
- We give meaning to things based on social interactions; different things mean different things to other people
- the meaning we give something can change due to everyday life; not permanent
Interactionism - 4 core ideas of symbolic interactionism
Symbol:
- world is full of millions of unique objects and people, life would be impossible if everything was treated as unique - we group things together (categorise and classify)
- giving a group a name - giving them a symbol (may evoke some feelings in us)
- world is composed of many symbols all of which have some meaning for us - the choice of course of action that we feel is appropriate may not be shared by everybody
Self:
- for people to act and respond to the meaning symbols have for them, they have to understand why they are within the world of symbols and meanings
^^^ have to see ourselves through the eyes of others - Looking Glass Self which developed into the concept of the self-fulfilling prophecy
Means distinguished two aspects of the self -
> the ‘me’ - your option of yourself in a particular role
> the ‘I’ - your opinion of yourself as a whole (your self-concept)
Game-playing and role-taking:
Blumer - we develop the notion of the self in childhood and game playing
^^^ when engaging in game with others, we learn various social roles and learn how these interact the the roles of others
Mead - the importance of role-taking; we imagine ourselves as the other person and try to understand the behaviour we witness form their POV
^^^ helps us to understand the actions of others and helps us decide how we should respond
Interaction:
When the symbol and the self come together with others in an interaction
- each person in society must learn to take the viewpoint of other people into accounts when setting out on any course of action
Interactionism - The Dramaturgical Approach
- Goffman.
- Based on social interaction
- symbolic interactionism
- form of impression management
- socially constructed
- social role
> based on similar ideas to symbolic interactionism; he explores how people perceive themselves and then set out to present an image of themselves to others
Goffman suggests that people work out strategies in dealing with others and are constantly altering and manipulating these strategies.
society is like a stage, with people acting out performances, like actors do in a play or on tv - impression management
Interactionism - The Looking Glass Self
- Cooley
- self-concept
- negotiated interaction
> the idea that our image of ourselves is reflected back to us in the views of others
as we consider the image of ourselves reflected in the reactions of others, we may modify and change our view of ourselves and our behaviour.
Feminism - Waves of Feminism (History of Feminism)
Early feminism -
> late 1700s
> Mary Woolstonecraft
> “the vindication of rights of women”
First wave -
> 1900s
> Emmeline Pankhurst
> Suffragettes; votes for women
Second Wave -
> 1960s
> Gloria Steinem
> “the Personal is the Political”; what were once private issues were now in the public realm
Third Wave -
> 1990s
> Issues of identity and stereotypes
> e.g. media portrayal of women
Feminism - Sociological Feminism
Feminism - the advocacy of women’s rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes.
- society is based on the exploitation of women by men (patriarchy)
^^^ this is possible due to the vulnerability of women due to pregnancy and childbirth, as well as men being physically stronger and bigger than women.
Feminism - Four Basic Tenants of - - Sociological Feminism
- inequality between men and women
- Conflict between men and women
- Gender inequalities are socially constructed
- The importance of patriarchy in explaining inequality
Functionalism - Mechanical solidarity
Definition:-
Social integration of members of a society who have common beliefs and values; constitute a “collective conscience” that work internally in individual members to cause them to cooperate (traditional society).
Functionalism - Organic Solidarity
Definition:-
social integration that arises out of the need of individuals for one another’s services (modern society); society characterised by organic solidarity, grater division of labour, individuals functioning if more linked interdependent but differentiated organs of a living body.
Functionalism - What Functionalists Say About Society
- Durkheim was writing at a time of great social change
- Social facts are measurable social behaviour
- Key tenets of functionalism are social order being maintained through conformity and being maintained through the strengthening of social bonds/social cohesion
Durkheim: crime and deviance is good because it drove society forward which allows for change.
Functionalism - Parson’s Functional Prerequisites
Adaptation
Goal attainment
Integration
Latency
Pattern maintenance
Tension management
Universal functionalism
Structural differentiation
- the basic needs must be met if a society is to survive
- All social phenomena has a function just like the human body
- Parsons uses the GAIL model to explain his idea of social prerequisites
Functionalism - Structural Differentiation
Definition:-
gradual change where specialised institutions are developed
Functionalism - Criticisms
Internal Critique: a criticism from someone who shares the same theoretical perspective but not the same explanation.
Merton:
Criticisms of parsons -
- too simplistic; not all ‘ functions’ within society are deliberate.
^^^ 2 categories of function: manifest function (functions that have been considered and are deliberate) and latent functions (an added bonus)
- not every party of society is indispensable; there are parts of society that could be replaced with something that could do the job just as well
^^^ functional alternatives.
- there is no ‘functional unity’; Parsons assumes that all parts of society are connected, and function as part of one unit. However Meton suggested that modern societies are more complex, and that parts are not necessarily connected or have unity, they instead have ‘functional autonomy’.
- There is no ‘universal functionalism’; Parsons assumes that everything in society performs a positive function for society as a whole, but Merton suggests some things may be functional for some groups, but dysfunctional for other groups.
Marxism - 5 Epochs
primitive communism
Slavery
Feudalism
Capitalism
Communism
