social action theories

Question 1

what are social action theories?

Answer 1

• micro level
• bottoms up approach
• individuals have free will and choice
• focus on how society is built up from people interacting
• interpretivist

Question 2

what are the three main theories and what do they believe?

Answer 2

• social action theory
• symbolic interactionism
• phenomenology
• first two believe there is structure influencing our behaviour
• last one believes there is no sort of structure - what we call society is a social construct

Question 3

WEBER - social action theories and what they combine

Answer 3

• combines structural and action theories
• to understand human behaviour you need to look at two levels:

1. the level of cause - structural factors (patterned social arrangements, institutions) that shape behaviour
2. the level of meaning - meaning attached to behaviour

Question 4

example of social action theory

WEBER - the protestant ethic and spirit of capitalism

Answer 4

• structural cause: protestant reformation - new belief system that shaped people’s behaviour
• the level of meaning: religious meaning
• radical explanation for rise of capitalism

Question 5

WEBER: 4 types of social action based on meaning for actor

Answer 5

• traditional action: customs + habits
• affective action: influenced by emotions
• value rational action: overriding value/belief - not knowing if you will be successful
• instrumental rational action: calculate risks and results of behavior in relation to a goal
• last two are suitable for interpretive study because they are not based on automatic behaviours

Question 6

MEAD - symbolic interactionism

Answer 6

• society is made based on meanings learned/shared through interaction
• focuses on how we create the social world through interaction
• interactions are based on meanings we give to situations conveyed through symbols

Question 7

what are symbols
(MEAD - symbolic interactionism)

Answer 7

• culturally derived social objects (concepts made by consensual agreement)
• shared meaning (e.g. language, smile)
• suggest a possible response or course of action
• have to interpret meaning before we choose a response
• e.g. a slap could be a joke or violent act

Question 8

MEAD - how do we interpret meanings (symbolic interactionism)

Answer 8

• interpret other peoples meanings by putting ourselves in their position
• develops through social interaction
• children role play - pretend to be others - learn to see ourselves as they see us
• later we see ourselves from the POV of the wider community - generalised other
• to be a functioning member of society we need to be able to see ourselves as others see us
• without shared symbols, we wouldn’t be able to do this

Question 9

BLUMER - key principles of symbolic interactionism

Answer 9

• our actions are based on the meanings we give to situations - not automatic responses
• these meanings arise from interactions and are changeable
• the meanings we give to situations are the result of taking the role of the other
• although our action is partly predictable because we internalsie the expectations, there is some room for choice in how we perform our roles

Question 10

BECKER: labelling theory + identity

Answer 10

• our identity is formed by the labels we are given
• deviant behaviour is behavior that has been labelled as such by others
• the reaction of others defines whether it is deviant or not
• labels such as mentally ill or underachiever profoundly affect how individuals see themselves and their future behaviour
• PROBLEM: fails to explain where labels come from

Question 11

COOLEY: the looking glass (self labelling theory)

Answer 11

• image of ourselves is reflected back to us like a mirror
• we see the image of ourselves in reactions of others
• we may modify our view of ourselves or change our behaviour
• self concept / social role are not created by social structure, but are socially constructed and subject to change through interactions
• we can either accept others concept of us or change our behaviour to alter their view of us
• “i am what you think i am”

Question 12

GOFFMAN - interactionism (impression management)

Answer 12

• we construct our ‘self’ by manipulating other peoples impressions of us - performances
• front stage: parts we choose to reveal
• props i.e. uniforms etc to help define ourselves
• backstage: hidden self - step out of roles e.g. teachers outside of classroom

Question 13

GOFFMAN: roles

Answer 13

• gap between real selves and roles
• roles are loosely scripted allowing lots of freedom in how we play them
• gap suggests we dont always believe the roles we play
• manipulating audiences to accept a false identity - hides true identity

Question 14

evaluation of symbolic interactionism

Answer 14

• avoids determinism
• society created through choices and meanings
• loose collection of descriptive concepts - ambiguous
• ignores social structure
• social class and gender effect behaviour
• ignores behaviour patterns functionalists argue come from shared norms
• often, we act of habit with little thought

Question 15

HUSSERL: no social structure, just mental categories (PHENOMOLOGY)

Answer 15

• world makes sense because we impose meaning/order on it
• do this by creating mental categories and storing them - we share these mental categories
• e.g. four legged furniture for eating is a table
• obtain knowledge through mental categories and giving meaning to experiences

Question 16

SCHUTZ: no social structure, just mental categories (PHENOMOLOGY)

Answer 16

• we share categories with other members of society
• typification
• meanings of an action varies according to context, non action - potentially confusing
• typification’s make social order possible as they give us a shared common-sense knowledge
• recipe knowledge - follow it to make sense of the world
• social world can only exist when we share the same meanings