social action theory

• basics of social action theory

  -social structures are a social construction

  
  

  -people have free will & choice: voluntarism

  
  

  -micro approach that focuses on the individual/small groups

  
  

  -behaviour is driven by the beliefs/meanings & feelings

  
  

  -use the interpretivist methodology
• Weber


  -the founder of social action

  
  

  -thought that in order to understand society we need to use a combination of structural and action approaches

  
  

  -developed three levels of sociological explanation: structural cause; verstehen & social actions

  
  

  -top-down approach
• Weber - three levels of sociological explanation: structural cause

  -changes in social structure can lead to changes in people's world view
• Weber - three levels of sociological explanation: verstehen

  -you need to understand the meaning before you can understand the action

  -putting yourself in someone else's shoes
• Weber - three levels of sociological explanation: 4 types of social action - understanding people's social actions

  Instrumentally rational action:

  The actor calculates the most efficient means of achieving a goal - this is not about the goal being desirable but is just about the goal being fulfilled. Example: a capitalist giving workers a low pay.

  
  

  Value-rational action:

  The action in itself has meaning/is desirable. There is no way of calculating if these actions will be effective. Example: a believer worshiping God to get to heaven.

  
  

  Traditional action:

  These are routine/habitual actions. There is no conscious thought/choice in these actions so Weber does not see them as rational.

  
  

  Affectual action:

  Actions that express emotion. Weber believes these actions are important in religious/political movements with a charismatic leader. Example: weeping out of grief.
• Weber - AO3


  -is not measurable

  
  

  -Schutz: Weber does not explain shared meaning & how we have these, he just says we have them

  
  

  -different people can have different interpretations of the meanings & actions

  
  

  -it is impossible to fully do verstehen as you cannot physically put yourself in someone else's shoes
• symbolic interactionism


  symbols = words, gestures, objects & expressions that we place meaning on

  
  

  interactionism = the study of how people interact with each other & interpret symbols
• symbolic interactionism - Bulmer

  -developed Mead's ideas

  
  

  -looks at symbols & how we give meaning

  
  

  -identified 3 key principles of symbolic interactionism
• Bulmer: 3 key principles of symbolic interaction

  -actions are based on the meaning that are given to the situation

  
  

  -meanings are based on our interactions & experiences

  
  

  -meanings are fluid & negotiable, they are not fixed, unlike in the animal world
• symbolic interactionism - Mead

  -interpretive procedures

  
  

  -our behaviour is not fixed by instincts, we respond to the world by giving meaning to what is significant to us

  
  

  -there is an interpretive phase between the stimulus & response, we can only respond once we have interpreted the stimulus (symbol)

  
  

  -we interpret meaning by taking the role of others, which is a skill developed through social interactions

  
  

  -we need to see ourselves as others see us to be a functioning member of society

  
  

  AO3:

  -we don't give meaning to some responses e.g., the fight/flight response

  
  

  -doesn't explain why we give something a shared meaning, just says we have shared meaning

  
  

  -doesn't account cultural differences
• symbolic interactionism - Cooley

  -the looking glass self

  
  

  -Cooley looked at how we develop self-concept which arises from being able to take the role of others

  
  

  -in interactions we come to see ourselves as others do

  
  

  -other people act as a looking glass to us, we see ourself mirrored in the way that people respond to us

  
  

  -we base our reactions on how we are perceived (we shape ourself to society): this forms a self-fulfilling prophecy

  
  

  -example: if someone gives you an encouraging look in an interview you think you are doing well and continue to do so

  
  

  AO3:

  -determinism, can add Fuller & the self-refuting prophecy to evidence this
• symbolic interactionism - Goffman

  -dramaturgical model

  
  

  -we are all actors & act how we want to be perceived

  
  

  -we actively construct ourself by manipulating the impressions others have of us, not authentic

  
  

  -front stage self: who we are around most people

  
  

  -back stage self: our true self

  
  

  -impression management

  
  

  AO3:

  -more of an observation than an explanation

  
  

  -doesn't explain meanings
• symbolic interactionism - Thomas

  -labelling theory

  
  

  -if people define a situation as real it will have a real consequence

  
  

  -if we believe something is true we will then change how we act which has consequences for those involved

  
  

  -when something is labelled, this label sticks and we perceive the item/person in this way forever

  
  

  -example: teacher labelling a student as troublesome & then treats the child differently

  
  

  AO3:

  -says it is voluntaristic but is deterministic

  
  

  -doesn't explain primary labels

  
  

  -problematic
• symbolic interactionism - Becker

  -Master status

  
  

  -Careers

  
  

  -these two things can lead people to internalise their labels & become a self-fulfilling prophecy
• phenomenology


  -the science of phenomena (objects)as distinct from the nature of being
• phenomenology - Husserl


  -the world is comprehensible as people create mental categories in order to organise (sensory) information

  
  

  -example: you know that a classroom is a place for learning as you use your past experiences & social norms to conclude this e.g., desks, displays & teacher

  
  

  -the world as we know it is the product of the individual mind

  
  

  -we use typifications to make sense of the world

  
  

  -recipe knowledge: being able to interpret behaviours, situations, motivations/actions without really thinking about it. When recipe knowledge goes wrong there is a loss of shared mean which can lead to anomie
• phenomenology - Schutz


  -built on Husserl's work

  
  

  -lifeworld: shared common-sense knowledge that people use to navigate daily life. Consists of assumptions,
• AO3 - phenomenology


  -positivists wouldn't like this as inferences are made so there is a lack of objectivity

  
  

  -just the study of categorising objects, does not explain issues like capitalism and the patriarchy
• ethnomethodology


  -sociological analysis that examines how individuals use everyday conversation to construct common-sense views of the world
• ethnomethodology - Garfinkle


  -interested in how social order is maintained

  
  

  -indexicality: everything is dependent on context e.g., raising hand in Nazi Germany vs raising hand at a bus stop in London

  
  

  -reflexicality: the use of common sense knowledge to interpret everyday situations & construct a sense of order

  
  

  -conducted breaching experiments to investigate this which looked at how people respond & attempt to restore normalcy

  
  

  -Family as strangers - breaching experiments: got his students to act as strangers in the home - told them to treat their family like hotel staff (asking permission for everything & being formal). Found that this confused the family & frustrated them, the family struggled to make sense of this & rationalised it as stress or gave other explanations for the behaviour. Shows that when norms are breached people work to interpret & justify the behaviour
• AO3 - ethnomethodology


  -lack of depth in the explanations/theories

  
  

  -no purpose for helping manage and solve social disorder e.g., the patriarchy

  
  

  -over-emphasis on micro-level processes

  
  

  -marxists: shared common sense is a ruling class ideology & acts as a false-class consciousness to maintain oppression of the proletariat