Social Action theories Flashcards
(52 cards)
1
Q
are social action theories macro or micro theories
A
- social action theories are micro theories
2
Q
what is a micro theory
A
- looking and interpreting society through how individuals interact
- prefer qualitative methods, e.g. interviews
3
Q
(Social Action) what is Weber’s theory about
A
- humans have free will
- understanding why people do things is essential
- we should try to gain an empathetic understanding of individuals (Verstehen)
- accepts that structures exist which have influence
- there is a level of cause + a level of meaning
4
Q
(Social Action) define Weber’s term ‘Verstehen’
A
- Verstehen = an empathetic understanding of individuals
5
Q
(Social Action) outline Weber’s idea of the level of cause + level of meaning
A
- the level of cause: the influence from structures
- the level of meaning: the individual’s meaning attached to their action
6
Q
(Social Action) what is the name of Weber’s case study
A
- the Protestant Ethic and Spirit of Capitalism
7
Q
(Social Action) outline Weber’s case study ‘Protestant Ethic and Spirit of Capitalism’
A
- Calvinists are a branch of Christians who lead an ascetic lifestyle (shunning luxury/ material goods)
- they’ve interpreted the bible as having to work for God - working very hard + for long hours, thus leading to accumulated wealth
- this gave them the idea that they were in gods favour - so continued living this way; saving money, reinvesting in their businesses, making more profit etc
- this led to the modern spirit of capitalism - generating money for the sake of generating more money
8
Q
(Social Action) name Weber’s 4 types of action
A
- instrumentally rational
- value rational
- traditional
- affectual
9
Q
(Social Action) explain Weber’s instrumentally rational action
A
- where the actor calculates a most efficient means of achieving a goal
- e.g. a capitalist would calculate that the most efficient way to maximize profits is low wages
10
Q
(Social Action) explain Weber’s value rational action
A
- action towards a goal that is desirable for their own sake but is not certain
- e.g. a believer worshiping their God in order to enter heaven
11
Q
(Social Action) explain Weber’s traditional action
A
- customary, routine or habitual action - no conscious choice or thought has gone into it
- e.g. saying ‘bless you’ to someone who has sneezed
12
Q
(Social Action) explain Weber’s affectual action
A
- actions that express emotion
- e.g. sobbing out of grief
13
Q
(Social Action) what is an internal AO3 evaluation of Weber’s social action theory
A
- true micro theorists believe social structures are a social construct and shouldn’t have a role in the analysis of individual behaviour
14
Q
(Social Action) what is an AO3 evaluation of Weber’s social action theory
A
- Schutz: Weber’s view of action is too individualistic (doesn’t consider wider society) and fails to explain the shared meanings
15
Q
(Symbolic Interactionism) outline Mead’s theory of Symbolic Interactionism
A
- Mead: our behaviour isn’t fixed, but are pre-programmed instincts
- the ‘self’ is constructed through interactions of which are constantly modified through learned signs + symbols
- we create meanings by attaching symbols to it
- sociologists need to understand the development of self (through interactions)
- ‘taking the role of the other’
16
Q
(Symbolic Interactionism) outline Mead’s cycle of symbolic interactionism
A
(with no start or end)
- → society → symbols → establish meanings → develop their views → communicate with each other
17
Q
(Symbolic Interactionism) who are the 2 theorists who add onto Meads theory
A
- Cooley
- Blumer
18
Q
(Symbolic Interactionism) what does Blumer add onto Mead’s theory
A
social interaction has 3 key principles:
1) our actions are based on the meanings we give to situations/events/people
2) these meanings are based on interactions we have experienced and aren’t fixed
3) these meanings that an ind has created + recreated happens through inds interacting with each other
19
Q
(Symbolic Interactionism) what are the 3 key interactionist concepts in the labelling theory
A
- the definition of the situation
- the looking glass self
- career
20
Q
(Symbolic Interactionism) what does Thomas say about the definition of the situation
A
- Thomas: we assign labels to people then treat them according to the labels (definition of the situation)
- as a reulst we often take on a ‘master status’
- e.g. if a teacher labels a student as ‘troublesome’, the teacher will act differently towards the pupil
21
Q
(Symbolic Interactionism) what does Cooley add onto Mead’s theory
A
- Cooley: the looking glass self: the idea that our image is reflected back to us + inds act accordingly - we become what others see us as
- our self comes from the ability of taking the role of the other
- socialisation is actively constructed by our interactions with others (‘symbolic interaction’)
- through the looking glass self, the label becomes part of the individuals self concept, by taking on its role
22
Q
(Labelling) outline the career in the labelling theory
A
- Thomas: a career is the stages of labelling through which an individual progresses their occupation
- labelling theorists such as Becker and Lemert apply the concept to groups
- e.g. for mental illness, an individual progresses through a career from pre patient, mentally ill, undergoing treatment, discharged - each stage has its own status + problems
23
Q
(Labelling) outline Goffman’s dramaturgical model
A
- describes how we actively construct our self by manipulating others impressions of us
- Goffman does this through analogies of drama as a framework for analysing social interaction
- we are all actors acting out scripts, using props, resting backstage, between performances that we present to our audiences
24
Q
(Labelling) outline Goffman’s concept of impression management
A
- 2 dramaturgical concepts are: the presentation of self and impression management
- we control the impression of our performance to present a particular image of ourselves
- we do this by constantly monitoring our audience + their reactions
24
(Labelling) outline the techniques for impression management
- language, tone, facial expressions, props, settings
25
(Labelling) outline the different settings and interactions in the dramaturgical analogy
- in theatre, there is a front stage, where we act out our roles and a back stage, where we can step out of our roles
- e.g. the classroom is the front stage where a individual puts on a performance for the teacher
25
(Labelling) how does Goffman view roles compared to Functionalists
- whilst functionalists view roles as tightly scripted/ formed by society, Goffman rejects this view and argues there is a role distance (gap) between our real selves + our roles
- they are only loosely scripted by society
26
(Symbolic Interactionism) outline 3 evaluations of symbolic interactionism
- symbolic interactionism ignores wider social structures such as class inequality
- it cant explain the consistent patterns we observe in peoples behaviour - Functionalists argue patterns are the result of norms dictating behaviour
- not all actions are meaningful + conscious - Weber outlines traditional action (action performed routinely and so has little meaning)
26
(Phenomenology) what is Husserl's phenomenology
- we can only make sense of the world by categorising/ filing information so we can make sense + giving meaning to experiences/ the world
- e.g. a four legged furniture for eating off of is categorised as a table
27
(Phenomenology) outline Schutz's typifications
- Schutz develops Husserl's theory + adds that categories are shared + are called typifications
- typifications enable us to organise our experiences into a world of shared meaning + define society
- meaning isnt given by the action but by its context - experiences vary depending on its social context
- typifications stabilise and clarify meaning - without it social order wouldn't be possible
- these 'common sense' knowledge about the world is the world we create - as we change our typifications, the world changes too
27
(Phenomenology) outline Schutz's 'recipe knowledge'
- recipe knowledge refers to the taken-for-granted knowledge people use to manage everyday activities without much thought
- members of society have a shared life world - shared typifications/ knowledge that are used to make sense of our experiences
27
(Phenomenology) what do Berger and Luckmann say
- whilst Schutz is right to focus on common sense knowledge - they reject his view that society is an inter-subjective reality (society based on shared meanings/ understandings + experiences between people)
- although reality is socially constructed, once constructed it becomes an external reality that reacts back on us
27
what type of theorist is Garfinkel
- ethnomethodologist
27
how does Parsons argue that social order is created
- through a shared value system into which we are socialised
27
(Ethnomethodology) how does Garfinkel argue that social order is created
- social order is an accomplishment - something people actively construct in their daily lives through reflexivity
28
(Ethnomethodology) outline Garfinkel's 'indexicality'
- indexicality is the idea that the meaning of language/ behaviour is dependent on context/ shared assumptions - meaning isn't fixed
- we use common sense in everyday life to construct meaning
- language is vital for indexicality as our descriptions create reality
- reflexivity is used to make sense of indexical (context bound) situations
29
(Ethnomethodology) outline Garfinkel's 'reflexivity'
- reflexivity is the idea that we actively interpret + make sense of social actions to maintain a sense of order
- social order isn't automatic but is created through our efforts to explain behaviours
- reflexivity enables us to understand + respond appropriately to situations
30
(Ethnomethodology) outline Garfinkel's experiments to disrupt social order
- Garfinkel + his students conducted a series of 'breaching experiments'
- e.g. acting as a lodger in a hotel with your family in your home (being polite - at a distance)
- this disrupted peoples sense of order - e.g. the parents became anxious, embarrassed
31
(Ethnomethodology) outline Garfinkel's view of suicide
- in reflection of the methods used to achieve reflexivity;
- in suicide; coroners identify cause of death form the possible known facts about deaths from suicide - e.g. mental health, employment status
- they use this info to conclude if the death was a suicide
32
(Ethnomethodology) outline 3 AO3 evaluations of ethnomethodology
- Craib: its findings are trivial (vague) as EMs focus on uncovering unknown rules that are no surprise to anyone. e.g. during a phone call - typically only one person speaks at a time
- EMs ignore how structures of power + inequality affect individual's meanings
- Marx: 'common sense knowledge' is simply ruling class ideology imposed on society to maintain capitalism
33
(Giddens) outlines Giddens concept of a duality of structure
- structure + action (agency) are the same and co-dependent
34
(Giddens) define structuration
- structuration = our actions produce + reproduce structures whilst these structures are what make our actions possible
35
(Giddens) what is an example of structuration
- e.g. Language: the structure of grammar rules govern how we express meaning. grammar exists independently but controls our actions - if we want to communicate, we must follow the rules of grammar
36
(Giddens) outline the reproduction of structures + elements of structure
- Giddens argues that structure has 2 elements: rules (norms that govern action) + resources (money, power)
- these 2 elements can be produced + reproduced through agency/ action - typically action reproduces existing structures
37
(Giddens) what are the 2 reasons that action reproduce structures
Giddens:
1) society contains knowledge on how to live (rules). similarly we use resources (e.g. money) to live; thus our routine reproduces structures
2) also, due to our need for 'ontological security', we reproduce structures through action as it encourages action that maintains structures
38
(Giddens) what is ontological security
- ontological security = a need to feel that our world is as it appears to be - especially stable
39
(Giddens) what are the 2 reasons why action/ agency can change structures
- we reflexively monitor our own action in which we can deliberately choose a new course of action. this is more common in modern society, as tradition has less influence over our actions
- secondly, our actions may have unintended consequences. e.g. in Weber's study of Calvinists, their work ethic was intended to glorify God - but unintentionally created modern capitalism
40
(Giddens) outline 2 evaluations of Giddens
- Archer disagrees with G's idea that actors can change structures simply by deciding to as he underestimates the capacity of structures to resist change
- Craib also argues that G fails to unite structure + action as he fails to apply his ideas to large scale structures
41
(Phenomenology) outline an example of Schutz's recipe knowledge
- when someone visits a restaurant, they already "know" how to behave (e.g., wait to be seated, order from a menu, pay at the end)
- they don’t need to consciously analyse every step—it’s habitual knowledge
42
(Symbolic Interactionism) what research method is used by symbolic interactionists
- symbolic interactionists (Blumer, Mead, Cooley) require a diff type of research method in order to gain an understanding of why people interact the way they do - e.g. student-teacher interaction
- they have developed 'interpretivist research methodology' which are qualitative RMs that help gain an understanding about meanings given to social situations
43
(Ethnomethodology) outline West + Zimmerman's idea of 'doing gender'
- West + Zimmerman: masculinity + femininity are developed concepts from repeated, patterned interaction + socialisation
- gender, rather than being an internal state of being, is a result of interaction according to symbolic interactionists
44
(Phenomenology) what is a Marxist critique of phenomenology
- the concept of typifications is critiqued by Marxists, who say that there aren't agreed meanings, but a forced bourgouis hegemony
