Action theories (P1/3) Flashcards
(28 cards)
Describe action theories
they’re ‘bottom up’ or micro theories: they focus on the actions and interactions of individuals in society, and stress the role of free will and choice in our behaviour.
They stress that people have agency: the ability to act as ‘free agents’, who create society through their choices, meanings and actions.
They’re more voluntaristic- they see us as having free will and choice.
Describe Weber’s social action theory
He believed both structural and action approaches are needed to fully understand human behaviour. An adequate sociological explanation should have two levels: The level of cause & meaning.
He classifies actions into different categories, based on their meaning for the actor e.g. Rational goal orientated action is where people calculate the most efficient way of achieving a given goal. E.g for capitalists to make max profit they need to pay low wages. Action is not about whether or not the goal is desirable, but simply the best way of achieving it.
Who argued believed both structural and action approaches are needed to fully understand human behaviour?
Weber
What are the 2 levels that Weber argues an adequate sociological explanation should have?
- The level of cause: explaining the structural factors that affect behaviour.
- The level of meaning: understanding the subjective meanings that individuals attach to their actions.
Give an example of Weber’s social action theory
E.g, when looking at the growth of capitalism in the West, he argued the Protestant Reformation was a structural cause, introducing a new belief system, Calvinism. This changed people’s worldview and behaviour, causing a work ethic which helped to develop capitalism. At the level of subjective meaning, work was seen as a calling by God to glorify his name through labour. This made Calvinists work systematically, accumulate wealth and become the first capitalists.
Give a strength of Weber’s work
useful for explaining that in order to understand someone’s actions we need to understand the subjective meanings they give their actions, not just the structural causes behind it.
Give criticisms of Weber’s work
Schutz - Weber’s work is too individualistic and doesn’t explain the shared nature of meanings. E.g, when someone at an auction raises their arm to make a bid, how do we all know what they mean?
Some argue we can never truly understand someone else’s motives for behaviour because we’re not that person
Describe symbolic interactionism
we create the social world (society) through interactions and actions, which are based on the meanings we give to situations. We convey these meanings through symbols, especially language.
Mead argues that unlike animals, our behaviour isn’t shaped by fixed instincts- we give meaning to the world by attaching symbols to it. Rather than simply responding to a stimulus like an animal does, humans have an interpretive phase between a stimulus and response in which we interpret the meaning of the stimulus and then respond to it. E.g, if someone shakes their fist at someone else, it has a variety of meanings, which the other person needs to interpret, - they could be angry, or just joking. Once the meaning of the symbol is decided, it can be responded to.
Mead argues that in order to interpret the meanings of others, we take the role of the other- putting ourselves in their shoes and seeing ourselves as they see us. The ability to do this develops through interaction, starting in childhood. When we’re children we take on the role of significant others (e.g. parents) through imitative behaviour, and see ourselves as they see us. Later we see ourselves from the point of view of the community, the generalised other. In order to function in society, we must be able to see ourselves as others see us. This is achieved through shared symbols, such as language.
Who says we , unlike animals, give meanings to the world by attaching symbols to it?
Mead
Who argues that in order to interpret the meanings of others, we take the role of the other?
Mead
Describe labelling theory
best known application of interactionist ideas. During social interaction a person defines situations as real. E.g , if a teacher labels a student as troublemaker, they will treat them as one- SFP.
Cooley- people have a ‘looking glass self’ (a self-image) which is shaped by how others treat them- if we get labelled as mentally ill, we get treated as such, and so may see ourselves as such.
Who argues people have a ‘looking glass self’ and what is said?
Cooley
people have a ‘looking glass self’ (a self-image) which is shaped by how others treat them- if we get labelled as mentally ill, we get treated as such, and so may see ourselves as such.
Who’s approach is describe as dramaturgical as they compare behaviour to acting
Goffman
Who argues we construct the ‘self’ by controlling how others see us
Goffman
How can labelling theory be compared to Goffman’s dramaturgical model?
While labelling theory sees people as being shaped by interactions they have with others (e.g. passive victims of labels), Goffman argues that we construct the ‘self’ by controlling how others see us.
Describe Goffman’s dramaturgical model
His approach is described as dramaturgical as he compares behaviour to acting- we are ‘actors’ who use ‘props’ to perform a ‘role’ to our ‘audience’.
Two main concepts are presentation of the self and impression management. Goffman argues we seek to present a particular image of ourselves to others, and control the impression we give through things like language, facial expressions and props such as clothing and make-up, adjusting as we go along. If we use these things correctly, we can ‘pass’ as the kind of person we want to be.
He argues that we have a ‘front’/stage where we perform the role, and a ‘backstage’ where we can step out of the role and be ourselves e.g. teachers perform a role in front of students, but will drop that role when at home.
What does Goffman say in contrast to functionalists
Unlike functionalists, who argue roles are part of our identity which are shaped by society, he argues that roles are loosely scripted and we have freedom in how we play them e.g. some teachers are stricter than others.
He also argues there’s a role distance between the roles we play and our real selves e.g. a teacher may be seen as strict by students but not by their family members, as they behave differently around them. This suggests we don’t always ‘believe’ in the roles we play, and that we manipulate others to accept an impression we give of ourselves which isn’t what we’re really like.
Describe the ethnomethodologist Garfinkel’s views
rejects the idea that society is a structure which exists ‘out there’. Like functionalists, he was interested in finding out how social order is achieved, but rather than taking the view that it’s due to us being socialised into shared norms and values, he argues that social order is created from the bottom up. We create social order by using commonsense knowledge- EM looks at how we make sense of the world.
Meanings to symbols, etc. can be unclear, known as indexicality- the meanings of gestures, etc. depend on contexts. However, as society tends to work, that suggests we understand the meanings and take them for granted. We use reflexivity to do to- we use commonsense knowledge to work out the meanings of things.
Garfinkel showed how fragile social order is and how easy it is to disrupt it by encouraging his students to carry out ‘breaching experiments’. For example, they would act like lodgers with their own families, which caused their parents to become anxious or angry, thinking their children were being nasty or were ill.
Who argues we create social order by using commonsense knowledge
EMs - Garfinkel
Describe Atkinson’s works on ethnomethodology
looked at how coroners make sense of deaths to see if they’re suicides or not. He argues that they use things like employment status, relationship history, mental health to looks for patterns e.g. that ‘typical’ suicides are mentally ill, etc.
Humans look for patterns in things, even though they’re just social constructs. E.g, if they believe that suicides are mentally ill, this becomes part of their taken-for-granted knowledge. Therefore, when presented with cases with similar features (e.g. mentally ill people who have died), they use the pattern to assume they probably committed suicide, which also reinforces the pattern.
How Garfinkel criticise sociology
it uses the same methods as others to create order and meaning e.g. Durkheim used official statistics to look for suicide rates and causes, but he points out that they just reflect the views of coroners, and therefore the ‘laws’ Durkheim found are just a reflection of those views.
Give a strength of EM
shows how we actively construct order and meaning, and how fragile social order is
Give the criticisms of EM
argues that ‘wider society’ doesn’t exist, yet looks at how people apply general rules/norms to specific contexts- this suggests shared norms exist outside of the individual, and we are taught them by others e.g. if we all know how to behave in a library when we aren’t in one, we must have learned that behaviour from wider society.
A lot of its findings are trivial- by analysing ‘taken-for-granted’ knowledge, it tells us things we already know e.g. when speaking on the phone, people take turns.
Describe Giddens’ Structuration Theory
argues that sociologists should look at both the interactions between individuals and the social structures that influence these interactions. Like structural theorists, structuration theorists say that individuals have to conform to the rules of social structures and social systems. A lot of actions depend on these structures.
He used the example of language – you have to stick to the rules of a language to communicate with others.
He also argues that the structures are dependent on people living by them e.g. a language only survives if people use it. Structuration theorists also say that social structures can be changed by the actions of individuals e.g. new words can be added to a language. Individuals also respond to the structures in different ways. Individuals have an awareness of the social rules and structures and have some level of choice about how to react to them.
