Social Action Theory

Question 1

Interpretivism

Answer 1

Main focus of social action or Interpretivist theories is on individual behaviour in everyday social situations and role in creating social structure.

Question 2

Features of it

Answer 2

• Society and social structures are seen as socially constructed creations of individuals
• Emphasis on free will
• Research placed on individual or small groups
• Behaviour believed to be driven by beliefs, meanings, feelings & emotions
• Qualitative research methods

Question 3

Symbolic interactionism

Answer 3

Mead- founder
Blumer first to use it
Society built up by interactions between people which take place on basis of meanings held by individuals

Question 4

Strengths

Answer 4

• Shows humans create and negotiate meanings and make sense of world- people not puppets
• Helps understand peoples motivations and meanings attached to behaviour
• Qualitative methods have high validity
• Shows insight into social construction of meaning

Question 5

Weakness

Answer 5

Doesnt pay attention to structure of society
Doesnt explain where people get meanings and goals from
Underestimates or ignores distribution of power in society
Postmodernists would argue just one of many competing explanations

Question 6

Verstehen

Answer 6

Idea of understanding human behaviour by putting yourself in that position of those being studied

Question 7

Weber

Answer 7

Doesnt fit into either structuralist or action approaches. Rejected determinism of structuralism and marxs economic determinism-people had choice and could change structures.
However knew importance of social structures, class, status and party.

Question 8

Structuration

Answer 8

Giddens- refers to two-way process by which people are constrained or shaped by society and social institutions.

Question 9

Evaluation of integrated approaches

Answer 9

Overstating capacity of individuals to change societys social structures &nunderestimating capacity of individual choice of action.

Question 10

Ethnomethodology

Answer 10

Garfinkel
Description of methods or interpretive procedures which people use to make sense of and construct order in everyday social world.

Question 11

What did Blumer say were the 3 basic features to symbolic interactionism?

Answer 11

1. People act in terms of symbols, like objects, words or expressions to which individuals have attached meaning
2. Meanings develop out of the interaction of an individual with others, and can change during cause of interaction
3. Meanings arise from interpretive process

Question 12

‘Looking-glass self’

Answer 12

Cooley
Idea that our image of ourselves is reflected back to us in the views of others.
We may adopt a new self-identity in accordance with how others see them or modify behaviour and try to change people’s views of them.

Question 13

Labelling theory

Answer 13

Symbolic interactionalism has been applied to lqbelling theory which suggests people label or define individuals and situations in certain ways which will affect how those labelled behaved. This can often lead to self-fulfilling prophecy as shown in education and C&D