Action theories

• Weber - social action theory

  - human action is directed by meanings sociologists need to interpret

  - explanation for behaviour = cause (structural, external factors) and effect (subjective internal factors, meanings to individuals)

  - verstehen
• Weber - social action theory, types of action


  types of action:

  - instrumentally-rational action = most efficient/easiest method to achieve goal e.g. delivery

  - value-rational action = most desirable way of achieving goal, based on values e.g. tv instead of homework

  - traditional action = routine e.g. unspoken assigned seat at dinner

  - affectual action = expresses emotion e.g. crying, argument
• Criticism of Weber - social action theory

  Schutz - too individualistic, can't explain shared meanings e.g. hands up in class

  Can't get true verstehen - haven't lived other people's lives

  Typing actions - difficult to apply
• Mead - symbolic interactionism

  people choose how to respond to stimuli

  Symbols vs instincts

  - instinctive response = no conscious response e.g. dog (stimuli) snarling makes other dog snarl back

  - interpretive phase - interpret the stimuli e.g. response to someone swearing depends if stranger or friend
• Mead - symbolic interactionism, interpret others meanings


  Interpret other people's meanings through 'taking the role of the other' - seeing ourselves as they see us

  - develops through social interaction

  - imitate significant others (family) when younger

  - see ourselves through wider community / generalised other - makes us act appropriately
• Blumer - symbolic interactionism


  (coined symbolic interactionism)

  3 key principles / stages

  - action is based on meaning we have given something e.g. sit against shaded tree, see it as a place to rest

  - give meaning based on social interaction e.g. someone says not to sit against tree because of ants

  - meaning isn't permanent e.g. bit by ant so now associate trees with ants
• Criticism of symbolic interactionism

  - supplemental rather than full theory - focuses on individuals rather than society as a whole

  - functionalists disagree as it suggests behaviour isn't fixed
• Labelling, Cooley - (symbolic interactionism)


  - labels put onto people in society impacts how we act towards them e.g. student labelled as lazy, teacher's action = gives up teaching them

  Cooley: 'looking glass self' - how we develop our self concept

  - see ourselves through the way people respond to us

  - can lead to self-fulfilling prophecy - label becomes part of individual's self concept
• Criticisms of Labelling theory

  - we don't necessarily take on the label, we can ignore it

  - Goffman - dramaturgical model: rather than being passive to label, people actively construct their 'self' through manipulating impressions
• Goffman - dramaturgical model (symbolic interactionism)


  - people are 'social actors' - impression management = change how we act due to different audiences/environments

  - 'front stage behaviour' - how you act when not 100% comfortable, aware you're being watched

  - 'back stage behaviour' - where you feel comfortable

  - can manipulate audience into accepting impression

  Critiques labelling theory: rather than being passive to label, people actively construct their 'self' through manipulating impressions
• Ethnomethodology - Garfinkel


  - study of people's actions

  - Garfinkel suggests people make sense of the world through documentary method: individuals see patterns in behaviour in specific social context

  - Garfinkel's lodger experiments - asked students to act like hotel guest at home to see how parents would react - aim to disrupt order. parents thought children were being sarcastic or ill - conclusion - social order produced by members themselves

  - indexicality - nothing has fixed meaning and depends on context
• Critique of ethnomethodology

  Craib - findings are trivial and not surprising - e.g. one study found usually only one person speaks at a time on the phone

  Functionalists - social order is structural, and there is social facts, not indexicality
• Giddens - structuration theory


  - 'duality of structure' - structure + action - through actions we produce / reproduce structures -> structures make action possible e.g:

  language (structure) -> rules of grammar to express meanings (structure makes action possible) -> communication through language using these rules (action) -> speaking and writing (through actions we produce/reproduce structures) -> language (structure) etc.

  - two elements to structure: rules (norms/laws) + resources (raw materials) - structure reproduced by human action e.g. obeying law keeps it going
• Criticism of Giddens - structuration theory

  underestimates capacity of structures to resist change e.g. USA abortion law - people want rights by can't have them due to law

  Craib - theory isn't robust / useful - fails to explain how his theory applies to large scale structures e.g. economy, the State

  - theory explains stuff but doesn't research or put into context