Sociological Theory Interactionism

Starter – Topic Recap

Postmodernism

Postmodernism – A Visual Introduction 

Postmodernism  Society is changing and fragmenting.  Meta-narratives can no longer hope to explain the structure of society.  Instead, we must understand choice and diversity as leading factors in our experience of the social world.

First Came Modernity  Industrialisation  Urbanization  Centralised Government  Rational and Scientific Thinking

Postmodernism  Globalisation  Increased Choice  Fragmentation  Knowledge as Relative not Fact

Postmodernism and Identity  Steve Taylor 1999 Society has been transformed in to ‘something resembling an endless shopping mall where people now have much greater choice about how they look, what they consume and what they believe in’

Interactionism

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Interactionism - Introduction   Ervin Goffman (1982)

Are You a Puppet?  Reject structuralist theories as ignoring individual interaction  Our behaviour is actually developed through our exposure to social symbols and our experience of interaction  We are not a product of our environment, but our environment is a product of us

Goffman says… Interaction is simply successful roleplaying in the drama of every day life.  Stage = environment  Actors = individuals in certain roles  Stage directions = Social symbols

Why is she crying??

Symbolic Interactionism and Identity  Social Identity  Personal Identity  Self Identity

Labelling Theory  Interactionism Theory  Master status  Howard Becker 1963

What is a Master Status? This is Zig… … a CRIMINAL

Master Status  In Sociology, master status is the social position which is the primary identifying characteristic of an individual. It is defined as "a status that has exceptional importance for social identity, often shaping a person's entire life" [1]social positioncharacteristic [1]  The master status is often the most important constituent in the architecture of an individual’s identity. Common master statuses are those of race or ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation, physical ability, age, economic standing, religion or spirituality, and education. Others include that of being a parent, child, or sibling; being employed or unemployed; and being disabled or mentally ill. It is not realistic to deny that as a society we label individuals based on their most prominent characteristic in this respect, such as the "old loon", the "blonde bimbo", etc.raceethnicitysexsexual orientationage economicreligionspiritualityeducationparentchildsiblingdisabledmentally ill

Criminal act Prison Labelled as criminal Cannot find work Accepts label Self Fulfilling Prophecy

Write sentences summarising today’s lesson... _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________ Now reduce those to key words… And finally to key word...

Note making