Symbolic Interactionism and Social Problems



Symbolic Interactionism and Social Problems

I. Def of SI

A. Most important aspect of social life is the active individual trying to make sense out of a situation and give it meaning

B. If it is about the individual, why is it "interactionism"?

1. Because individual learns how to make sense through interactions

a. Your lifelong interaction history

2. Because we negotiate meaning with others "in real time"

3. Due to emphasis on individual and interpersonal interaction, SI seen as totally microsociological

a. I reject that characterization

1) Corporate actors seem to follow similar patterns of sense making

2) Macro elements like culture provide tools for negotiation

C. What's symbolic?

1. Social phenomena carry more freight than meets the eye

a. e.g., today may seem to be a day like any other unless it is your birthday

b. The phenomenon is a symbol for all the associated meanings

1. These meanings, of course, arise out of interaction and negotiation

II. Types of meaning

A. Three facets of meaning

1. Descriptive

a. What something is

2. Prescriptive

a. What something ought to be

3. Evaluative

a. What is better or worse about something

EXAMPLE: "student"

a. someone who is enrolled in a school (descriptive)

b. someone who comes to class, studies, takes exams (prescriptive)

c. someone who does well on exams, pays attention in class, and asks good questions in class (evaluative)

B. "Meaning" often includes ideas about what happens next

1. Prescriptive forms are norms:

a. Norm - widely shared expectation of behavior considered appropriate in a given situation

III. SI and behavior

A. Thomas Theorem is the key idea

1. If men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences

a. Most important immediate consequence is behavior

2. To understand bhr (behavior), then, we must understand:

a. how situations are defined &

b. how definitions of situations are turned into consequences/behaviors

B. Objective reality vs subjective reality

1. Subjective reality - what the actor thinks is real

2. Objective reality - what's really real

a. Some sociologists and philosophers say we can never know objective reality

b. I say we can often get close enough for practical purposes

3. The Thomas Theorem tells us behavior is based on subjective reality, NOT objective reality

a. This warns us that knowing what's really going on does not necessarily help understand people's behavior

1) Example: though the objective reality seems to be that Barak Obama is not a Muslim, there were many people who refused to vote for him on the grounds that he is a Muslim

4. Important example of the distinction: objective vs subjective deprivation, aka absolute vs relative deprivation [didn't cover these in class before exam 1]

B. Verstehen

1. Def: to understand from the point of view of the actor

a. Sometimes called an "empathetic understanding"

2. Allows us to apply Thomas theorem

3. Sometimes more easily done than others

a. It may be difficult to put yourself in the moccasins of someone quite different from you

4. The value of Verstehen is perhaps the most useful practical thing we'll talk about this semester

C. Reciprocity

1. Social behavior requires at least some degree of shared definition of the situation

a. This means I can't define the situation any old way; the def must be at least in some way compatible with others' defs

2. We don't usually have to start fresh in our definitions

a. Past history with specific individuals may help with them, but not with strangers

b. General understanding of how things are defined and how things work helps

1) Generalized other - an actor's understanding of how other people think and act

1.1) Put another way, the actor's understanding of his culture, including the norms

III. Culture and Generalized Other

A. Generalized other is a property of the individual

1. Term from George Herbert Mead in explanation of the emergence of the competent adult; it contrasts with the "significant other," which are people one knows personally and responds to as a unique person. The generalized other is not unique

B. Culture is a property of the group

1. If the culture and the generalized other are way out of whack with each other, actor will have problems

a. Generally we do understand our culture

C. Cultural values

1. Definition: widely shared feelings and beliefs about what is important to a group’s identity or well-being

a. Compare with personal values – an individual’s feelings or beliefs about what is important to his or her identity or well-being

2. Exploration of US cultural values

a. Conflict between materialism and humanitarianism

b. NOTE instrinsic conflict

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download