Interactionism vs Social World

A detailed Summary of Interactionism vs Social World

Assess the claim made by Interactionists that the social world has to be explained in terms of the meanings that actors give to their actions.

Interactionists believe that the social world is constructed by 'meanings' which individuals attach to events and actions. These are transmitted across generations through language.

Social world is used to contrast the 'natural world'. This is the world constructed by human beings and their activities. It includes physical artefacts that people manufacture and also patterned regularities that we create through our interactions. The social world is therefore composed of building institutions, structures, dyads, triads, etc.

'Meaning' is the beliefs, intentions, purposes or motives that actors attach to their actions.

There is a wide range of theories that support the claim made above, such as Symbolic Interactionism and Social action.

George Herbert Mead would be one of the most significant figures in the development of Symbolic Interactionism.

In Mead's opinion, human thought, experience and conduct are essentially social. Human beings interact with each other in terms of symbols; the most important of which are contained in language. A symbol, in Mead's view, doesn't stand for an obje

The first stage is called the 'play stage'. This phase is when a young child pretends to be someone else. For example children will play 'doctors and nurses' or 'mummies and daddies', etc. Mead believes that in doing this the children to see themselves from the point of view of significant others.

'Takes account of the behaviour of others and

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Mead thinks that through the process of role-taking, individuals develop a concept of SELF. By taking on the role of someone else you are able to look back at yourself. Mead thinks that the only way 'self' can develop is if the individual can 'get outside themselves' so they appear as an object to themselves. They must look at themselves from the point of view of other individuals.

For Mead, the explanation of the 'self' splits into two elements, the 'I' and the 'ME'. The 'I' is your opinion of yourself, built on the reactions of others to you and how you interpret those reactions. The 'ME' is your definition of yourself in a social role. For example you are a 'good mother' or a 'good friend' etc.

In other words an action that someone does not think about can't be a social action. For example an involuntary cry of pain is not the result of any conscious thought process.

The second stage is called the 'game stage'. This phase is when a child starts to participate in team games, in which the child ha

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Approximate Word count = 965
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

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