Social Action Theories

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Key Terms and Theorists

Key theorists:

Weber

Mead

Lemert

Blumer

Thomas

Cooley

Becker

Husserl

Schutz

Berger

Luckmann

Garfinkle

Key words:

action theory - bottom-up, voluntaristic approaches which argue that individuals create society through their social interactions

affectual action - action which expresses an emotion e.g) crying

breaching experiments - methods that aim to disrupt people's sense of order and challenge reflexivity

dramaturgical model - Goffman's analogy for describing the nature of social interaction

ethnomethodology - study of rules and methods we use to produce meanings and construct social order

general other - the point of view of the wider community

indexicality - meanings are always potentially unclear; nothing has a fixed meaning

instrumentally rational action - the actor calculates the most efficent means of achieving a goal

interpretive phase - deciding what a stimulus means and how to respond to it

labelling theory - the labels people are given by others affect their behaviour

master status - the dominant label in a person's self-concept that affects how they behave

the natural attitude - society appearing to us as a real, objective thing

phenomenology - theory that we can never have definite knowledge of what the world is like outside of our minds

reflexivity - use of commonsense knowledge in everyday interactions to construct a sense of meaning

role of the other - putting ourselves in the place of another person, and seeing ourselves through their eyes

self-concept - our idea of who we are

significant other - people we know personally e.g) our parents

structural theory - top-down, deterministic approaches that view society as shaping the behaviour of individuals

traditional action - customary, routine or habitual action e.g) shaking hands

typifications - shared categories or concepts that allow us to give meaning to our experiences

value-rational action - action towards a goal that the actor regards as desirable, despite it not being an effective means of achieving it e.g) worshipping

Verstehen - German word for 'understanding'; empathetic understanding of an actor's subjective meaning

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Examples of careers in the labelling theory:

a) A person with paranoia

The person is paranoid that people are talking about them.

People begin to talk about them because of their strange behaviour and their paranoia.

This gives the person the label of 'paranoid.'

The person internalises the label and in turn, becomes more paranoid.

A medical professional may diagnose that the person is indeed, paranoid.

b) A marijuana smoker

They are introduced to marijuana by a peer group.

Someone outside of the group labels the group as 'stoners.'

The peer group reacts positively to the labelling.

The label is internalised and becomes part of the person's identity.

c) A medical student

They have a natural interest or passion for biology.

They may have grown up in a family of doctors and surgeons.

The person's biology teacher and family encourage them, telling them they should become a doctor.

The person internalises the label and applies to study medicine at university.

An example of Goffman's dramaturgical model:

In the work place:

actors = the workers

script = what we're supposed to be doing e.g) smiling at customers, making sandwiches

props = sandwiches, ingredients, serving area

front stage = customer area

back stage = back room

people carry out impression management through uniforms, helping customers, market research, customer surveys, signs and labels

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