Action Theory

Question 1

Who is the main social action theorist?

Answer 1

Max Weber

Question 2

What did Max Weber believe about the organisation of society?

Answer 2

Society is shaped by the bottom up.

Society is made up of bureaucracies

Question 3

What are bureaucracies (Weber)?

Answer 3

Organisations made up of individual people carrying out social actions in order to achieve a goal. For example schools, teachers students e.c.t.

Question 4

Why can societal systems only exist according to Weber?

Answer 4

Because there is a network of individuals engaging in a series of social actions leading to one big process

Question 5

What should research try to achieve according to Weber?

Answer 5

Versteshen through structured interviews

Question 6

What are the 4 types of action according to Weber?

Answer 6

• emotional action
• traditional action
• instrumentally rational action
• value rational action

Question 7

What is emotional action according to Weber?

Answer 7

Stems from an individuals emotional state at a particular time, for example crying at a wedding

Question 8

What is traditional action according to Weber?

Answer 8

Based on established custom, people act in a certain way due to habit

Question 9

What is instrumentally rational action according to Weber?

Answer 9

When people have a clear awareness of goals and act in a way to achieve it. For example, trying hard in school

Question 10

What is value rational action according to Weber?

Answer 10

Behaving in a way in which the individual feels is desirable, but isn’t necessary to achieve any goals. For example, worship

Question 11

What positive evaluation points are there of Weber?

Answer 11

Able to categorise different reasons for different behaviours

Question 12

What negative evaluation points are there for Weber’s social action theory?

Answer 12

Assumes people make choices based on individual reasons

Question 13

What 4 theories come under symbolic interactionism within action theory?

Answer 13

• Interpreting symbols (Mead)
• Negotiation of Action (Blumer)
• Labelling Theory
• Dramaturgical Model (Goffman)

Question 14

According to Mead, how do humans interpret the world around us? (Interpreting Symbolism)

Answer 14

People make conscious efforts about how to behave in different social contexts. We do this by looking for symbols all around us.

Question 15

According to Mead, what is a symbol? (Interpreting Symbolism)

Answer 15

A visual stimulus which represents something deeper

• -facial expressions, colours and even objects.
• -for instance if a person was crying what would happen

Question 16

According to Mead, what is the process in which human beings interpret symbols? (Interpreting Symbols)

Answer 16

We put ourselves in the position of the other. This is a skill developed in childhood where children play games where they re-nact positions of other people. This leads to children developing empathy

Question 17

According to Mead, how do symbols relate to societies? (Interpreting Symbolism)

Answer 17

Within one culture and society, the meaning of a symbol is largely shared. This is because they are social constructs (shared ideas which are agreed upon).
For example within western culture we handshake when meeting someone

Question 18

Evaluation of Mead and their Interpreting Symbolism theory?

Answer 18

Mead fails to explain why people are better at interpreting symbols than others. Some people cannot express and understand facial expressions and gestures ect.

Question 19

According to Blumer, how does he think that people are capeable of responding to symbols in different ways? (Negotiation of Action)

Answer 19

Something which Mead doesn’t clearly express. Blumer notes that people can be exposed to the same symbol but react completely differently

Question 20

What does Blumer (negotiation of action) agree with about Mead?

Answer 20

1) peoples actions are based on conscious intepretations

2) people need to empathise with one another

Question 21

According to Blumer, how do prisoners explain his theory? (Negotiation of Action)

Answer 21

Prisons have clear symbols which offenders are expected to all interpret the same. However, not all do this. Some prisoners will be extremely conformist to the rules, some will rebel. Shows that symbols do not always mean the same thing to the same people

Question 22

Evaluation of Blumers theory? (Negotiation of Action)

Answer 22

He fails to explain why people interpret symbols in different ways.
Dont explain where these symbols come

Question 23

What does labelling theory focus on?

Answer 23

How people apply labels, how individuals respond to labels and how labels impact people in the future

Question 24

What are the 3 aspects of labelling theory?

Answer 24

• the application of labels
• how someone responds to the label
• what happens once a label has stuck

Question 25

How is a label applied to someone (labelling theory)?

Answer 25

Known as the definition of the situation. One individual makes a judgement about someone else and begins to treat them in accordance to the label they have made. For example, police officers and racism

Question 26

How does someone respond to a label that has been applied to them (labelling theory)?

Answer 26

Cooley coined the term the "looking glass self". People begin to see themselves in the way that the label says. This is better known as a self fulfilling prophecy

Question 27

What happens to someone once the label has stuck (labelling theory)?

Answer 27

Labelling theorists suggest that someones label becomes their "career". People become defined by their job, in this case, the label. Over a longer period of time, it becomes their "master status" whereby a person is best known for the negative judgement made against them.

Question 28

Evaluate labelling theory of action theory?

Answer 28

Theory very deterministic compared to other theories. It sets out a plan for what happens to people when a label is applied, people can break the label and act differently!

Question 29

According to Goffman, what is the dramaturgical model (symbolic interactionism)?

Answer 29

In response to the determinism of labelling theory. Goffman believed people were actively involved in the construction of their own identity. The dramaturgical model compares the way people behave to the way actors would behave during performance.

Question 30

According to Goffman, what are the 4 ways people act in the "world of drama"?

Answer 30

- people follow scripts - people use props - people have on stage and off stage performances - people have role distance

Question 31

According to Goffman, how do people follow scripts? (symbolic interactionism)

Answer 31

People follow a set dialect in which they choose to communicate with one another. These vary across different situations

Question 32

According to Goffman, how do people use props? (symbolic interactionism)

Answer 32

People use props to present a certain image of themselves. For example, clothes, accessories and the hobbies we do

Question 33

According to Goffman, how do people have on-stage and off-stage personas? (symbolic interactionism)

Answer 33

The way we present ourselves changes with different social contexts. For example we will act very different with our friends compared to a job interview

Question 34

According to Goffman, how do people have role distances? (symbolic interactionism)

Answer 34

This means there is a gap between our "real" selves and the roles played in different social contexts. People aim to convince their audience to accept presentation they are performing

Question 35

Evaluation of the dramaturgical model put forward by Goffman? (symbolic interactionism)

Answer 35

Neglects how a group of people acts, only focusses on one individual. What happens when people are drunk?

Question 36

According to Giddens, what are the two rules within Structuration Theory (action theory)?

Answer 36

- rules of maintaining society | - rules of social change

Question 37

According to Giddens, what are the rules of maintaining society?

Answer 37

Believes that social institutions are regulated by rules. Formal rules (laws) and informal rules (conventions). Rules dictate to people how they want to behave. Though the rules can be interpreted in different ways meaning there is an element of free will Example: formal and informal rules of education

Question 38

According to Giddens, what are the rules of social change? (action theory)

Answer 38

Social rules are not fixed. If more and more people reject a rule, the structure may need to change. Suffrage movement in the 1990s. Giddens notes that most social change happens slowly. People seek ontological security, (desire for stability), as too much change can bring division to society. Not everyone will interpret even these rules in the same way. Women and being a housewife for example.

Question 39

Evaluation of Giddens structuration theory?

Answer 39

Only when people in power challenge the rules do they get changed. In reality, structural influences will always be more powerful than individual social actions