What Is Symbolic Interactionism Sociology Essay

What Is typic Interactionism Sociology EssayThe increased interest to the problem of communication in sociology of the 20 century actualized, in particular, richness of understanding each other at differing positions, defining own views to the opposite.Gradu everyy in the sociology was formed an integrationists branch, that analyse the integrity of the human I and his own(prenominal) self-determination in micro hearty environment.The term emblematic representationic means that on that point is an emphasis on the sense which separates put in their actions when they come into fundamental interactions with each other, and in this conjecture the club is considered from the standpoint of appearance of individual(a)s involved in the interaction.In other words, society quite a little only be explained by considering the dominions of human behavior, because only here poop be found a signifi keept symbol that defines the act of behavior.Defining of a intendful symbol takes pla ce in the human cognizantness, which is filled with meaning and knowledge from the tabooside world.General Principles emblematical interactionism focuses on the analysis of the symbolic aspects of kindly interactions.The elementary principle of interactionism is that an individual perceives (estimates) be retain in conformation with attitudes of other masses, that is, a person is for himself the sensation, whom he presents to others in the complaisant world. emblematical interactionists ar united by not a rigorous scheme, but a prevalent vision of kindly affect, defined as a process of development and changing hearty values, a constant definition and redefinition of situations, the interaction of their participants.In the process of this redefinition is changing the objective (from the view points of interacting individuals)of the medium of social activities, because the world, harmonise to interactionists, has a completely social origin. Different groups develop diffe rent worlds, which change in the process of changing the values in the course of social interaction.Symbolic interactionism is establish on three basic premises First that people react to the environment based on those values symbols, that they have in the environment. Second, these values (means of connection of events and characters) are the product of the social everyday social relations interactions. And finall(a)y, the socio-cultural values are subject to change as a result of individual perception within such interactions. (West, 2010)That is wherefore I and others form a unified whole, like society, which is the sum of the behaviors of its constituent members, but which imposes social restrictions on individual behavior.Although theoretically it is possible to separate I from the society, interactionism comes from the fact that the first understanding is connected with an as deep understanding of the second in equipment casualty of their interdependent relationship.Re presentatives of symbolic interactionism emphasizes that people are social creatures.However, unlike ants, bees, termites and other insects leading a familiar life, people almost do not have the innate models of behaviors, that connect them with each other.If we have essentially no inherent nature of the mechanisms of social behavior, how can society be?Representatives of symbolic interactionism find the answer in the ability of people to communicate through symbols. (West, 2010)In the theory of symbolic interactionism a sign is any element of the medium, which is another element in this environment.The signs are of two types firstly, it is natural signs (such as discoloration of leaves), which represent something else (like the arrival of autumn) second are dummy signs, elements that were created (such as a flag) to represent something else in the social world, for example, patriotism and duty.These substitute signs are only utile if people agree on their meaning, so thatthey are interactive two or more people must agree to continue to react to this sign in relatively constant manner.It is also undeniable to know signals from symbols signals are artificial marks, providing a predictable reaction (such as traffic signals) and symbols are artificial marks that have no definite reactions (a flag).Thus, the signals are used for regulatory policy of normative behavior in the society, and symbols are used to facilitate communicative behavior.Historical development of the TheoryAs a broad theory, symbolic interactionism appeared in the 20-s of XX century, in the Chicago school, its founder was an American sociologist George Mead.George Herbert Mead (1863-1931) is an American sociologist and social psychologist, who is considered a true founder of symbolic interactionism.Mead was known in his lifetime as a gift lecturer, and author of numerous articles, publication and republication of his lectures and articles, as well as the fundamental work Mind, ego and Society (1934) brought him international fame.He has essential a theory that explains the essence of the individuals perception of other individuals, and developed the concept of generalized other that is to some extent complementary to the theory of specular I.In accordance with the concept of I, Mead believed that the emergence of human self as a holistic mental phenomena, in essence, is null else but social process inside the individual, in which he first pointed by I conscious andI-like-object.Further, Mead suggested that through the assimilation of culture (as a complex set of characters that share viridity values for all members of society,) the person is able to predict the behavior of another person and how this other person is predicting own behavior. fit in to Mead, I-as-object is something that people can call their own.In this area, James identifies four components and arranges them in order of importance the sacred self, material self, social self and physical self .Another American philosopher and psychologist, who first began to develop a antiphonal self-concept was William James (1842-1910). James has made the first and very profound concept of personal I, considered in the background of self-knowledge, and he conjectured that the dual nature of the integral I, with many of his statements concerning the descriptive, and emotional evaluation of categorical I, anticipated the by and by developments of the idea of I-concept. (Meltzer 1975)As for other concepts of symbolic interactionism, we can name an American sociologist and social psychologist Herbert Blumer, who was a deterrent example of the Chicago school of interactionism, referring to the second generation of symbolic interactionism, founded by J. Mead.He further developed the airplane pilot framework of symbolic interactionism. Bloomer was the first who interested in the problem of mass society. According to Blumer Symbolic interactionism rests on three basic premises People are more likely to act according to the values that they attach to objects and events, rather than just react to international stimuli, such as social forces.Symbolic interactionism suggests determinism of values. Values are not just fixed and formulated in advance, but more ofttimes are created and change in interactive situations. Values are the result of interpretations that took place in interactive contexts. (Nelson 1998)Significant attention in his works Blumer paid to corporal behavior of people. Basis of collective behavior are common values, expectations, which are separated by a group of individuals.However, it often can be observed a spontaneous collective behavior, like overflowing passion, panic, etc.This behavior occurs in usurpation of established values, habitual forms of existence. Blumer distinguishes those forms of spontaneous behavior (such as Pounding, Collective excitation, SocialInfection), which under certain conditions can lead to new forms of group and insti tutional behavior Acting crowd (a spontaneously formed group, without common values and expectations, there is no recognized leadership) Expressive crowd (emotional groups carnivals, ritual dance) Mass crowd (spontaneous collective grouping of people who are excited with some event) Public (spontaneous collective group, but in public individuals interact with each other, demonstrate the rational, critical action). (Nelson 1998)Although Mead has first formulated his ideas in 1930, symbolic interactionism has become an of import part of the study equations of mass communication only in 1970, 1980.Since Meade made emphasis on interpersonal interaction and not interested in media, it is not surprising that theorists of mass communication rather unbend realized the relevance of his ideas in their research.Symbolic interactionism as the direction is not uniform, as it is possible to distinguish at least two schools.The first is the so-called Chicago School led by one of the prominent s cientists Cove J., Mead H., Bloomer.This school continues to socio-psychological tradition of Mead in the most orthodox way.It is opposed to the another Iowa school of symbolic interaction-mechanism, headed by M. Kuhn professor at the University of Iowa. This school is trying to modify several individual Meads concepts in the nature of neo-positivism.The main difference between these schools are in methodological issues, primarily in the definition of concepts and relationships to versatile methods of socio-psycho-logical investigation.Among other representatives of the theory we can name Becker and Strauss members of the Chicago School of symbolic interactionism, who were interested in the adjectival aspects of interaction.Kuhn and Partlend are representatives of Iowa schools, and were more interested in stable symbolic structures.To this generation also belongs K. Burke and Goffman, who explained social life as the realization of the metaphor of drama by analyzing the interac tion in such terms as actor, mask, scene, script and soon.Moreover, Burke used the term force field, almost literally, while Hoffman was using theater and drama as metaspheres of society while preserving its spirit, but developing its own conceptual line.The modern theory of symbolic interactionism, as a direct expression of concepts of J. Mead, has practically the same advantages, shortcomings and contradictions of the J. Mead concept.On the one hand, it is master(prenominal) to point interactionists effort to isolate the specific human traits in human behavior, the view on the individual as a social phenomenon, to find a socio-psychological mechanisms of identity formation in interaction with others in society, to stress active creativepersonal traits of the individual.However, the subjective idealist position of interactionists lead to the fact that all the social connections they see only in interpersonal communication, and while the analysis of communication they ignore the limit and the substantive work of individuals, not seeing that the process of formation of the personality includes not only the replacement of views, but more importantly, the exchange of activities. (Reynolds 1993)theory importance and ApplicationThe advantage of this approach is that it introduces people in the field of sociological research.It directs attention to the activities of individuals in their daily lives and sees that people are not robots, mechanically carrying out the requirements of social rules and institutional norms, but leading the public life of beings with the ability to feel and think.In the interaction they operate with symbols and values which enable them to evaluate and interpret situations of social life, assess the advantages and disadvantages of certain actions and then favour one of them. Thus, representatives of symbolic interactionism suggest the image of man as an individual, actively forming his behavior, rather than passively reacting to externa l environment and structural constraints.However, the approach of symbolic interactionism has its weaknesses.In everyday life people do not have complete freedom in forming and changing their actions.Although representatives of symbolic interactionism recognize that many human actions are guided by the established systems of symbols and meanings, including culture and social system.Critics argue that the theory of social interaction based on the symbols makes an excessive emphasis on short-term situations and exaggerates attention to transient, episodic and temporary. (Reynolds 1993)Thus, the theory is applied to thread and analyze human behavior, as through the process of socialization people can more or less consciously interpret stimuli and expected responses.ConclusionFrom the prospect of interactionists, human society is composed of individuals with personal I, who themselves form norms and values. Individual action is a construction, not just a commission, as it is carried b y the individual using the estimation and interpretation of the situation in the social environment.Personal I am can serve as a persons target for his actions.Formation of values is presented as a set of actions in which the individual sees the object, gives it value, and decides to act on this matter.Interpretation of the actions of another is a definition of the value of certain actions of others.From the perspective of interactionists, an object is not just external stimulus, but something that distinguishes man from the outside world, giving him certain value.This theory explains how individuals interact with the environment and how behave in the process of socialization.