Social Action Theories Flashcards
(14 cards)
(Social Action) = What are social action theories?
- They are micro theories that view society from a personal perspective
- This is a bottom up approach
(Social Action) = What do social action theories focus on?
- Focus on people as social actors who have agency
- This means that people have free will and make decisions and personas
(Social Action) = How do social action theories differ from structural theories?
- Social action theories see a person in control of their own behaviour whereas structural theories believe society shapes the individuals behaviour
- They focus on the idea that a person has free will
(Social Action) = What are the three types of social action theories?
- Symbolic Interactionism
- Ethnomethodology
- Phenomenology
(Symbolic Interactionism) = What is symbolic interactionism?
- This perspective sees society as a product of human interactions and the meanings that people place on these interactions
(Symbolic Interactionism) = What are the three theories for symbolic interactionism?
- Looking Glass Self
- Dramaturgical Approach
- Labelling Theory
(Symbolic Interactionism) = What is the looking glass self theory?
- Cooley argued that individuals own identity is created by interactions with other people
- Your identity is created by how others react to you then becoming a part of your identity
(Symbolic Interactionism) = What is the dramaturgical approach?
- Goffman found that people play roles in society like they are actors on stage
- This then suggests that people can only be theirself when they are alone
- People have a front of house persona and a backstage persona for when they are alone
(Symbolic Interactionism) = What is the labelling theory?
- Becker argues that a label is applied to someone which then influences their concept of their own identity and ultimately leads to a self-fulfilling prophecy
- Seen in Pygmalion in the classroom. Rosenthal and Jacobson
- However this does not always lead to the self-fulfilling prophecy but may lead to the self-refuting prophecy as seen in Louise Archer
(Phenomenology) = What is phenomenology?
- Schuts found that things have no meaning but through our experiences, we attach meaning
- Meanings differ depending upon culture which means it is unclear and unstable
- There is no objective reality which meaning the truth as it depends on how things appear to our senses
(Ethnomethodology) = What is ethnomethodology?
- Garfinkel rejects the social structure or social order and are not concerned with interpretations
- Social interaction is changing and social order is an illusion.
- Humans want to find order as it creates a sense of stability
- There are two concepts which are indexicality and reflexivity
- Indexicality is the idea that the meaning of actions and words is context dependent and unstable
- Reflexivity is the idea that individuals use common sense and pratical reasoning to maintain social order
What is a structuration theory?
- This suggests that our behaviour is a combination of structures in society and our own interpretations and the meanings we apply
- This should be used as a conclusion
(Structuration) = What is a duality of structure?
- Our actions change the structure of society
(Structuration) = What are the structures in society and how are they changed through social action?
- Rules and resources are reproduced and changed through social action
- The structure is made up of rules that tell us how to behave and the resources that make the action to fulfill the rules possible
