Part 1 Exam

What is symbolic interactionism

perspective in sociology that places meaning, interaction adn human agency at center of understanding social life

What philosophical tradition did symbolic interactionism grow out of

pragmatism

what are the basic assumptions of pragmatism

• reality is created by us and an object can take on new meanings as new people interact with it. tldr reality is not fixed

• knower implicated in knowledge; we are not spectators or passive knowers, we aquire knowledge through ongoing experiences

• progressive role of science; should not seek timeless absolute truths, believed that philosphy should be engaged with the world

what are meads three important themes of symbolic interactionism/how did he develop symbolic interactionism

• importance of language and significant symbols; human beings are special bc we have capacity for language and can communicate with each other even using symbols

  • can use significant symbols that let us share meanings with others and anticipate how others will act

• social origins and dynamics of the mind; develop capacity of mind thru invovement in society or interaction with others

• the processual and creative nature of human action (process and agency); process, key elements of human behavior are in flux (interaction, role taking, self hood, society) are not static. agency, free will

what are the three guiding assumptions of modern symbolic interactionism, according to blumer

• people act toward things on basis of meanings things have for them

• meanings derive from their interactions with others

• meanings are handled in, sustained or altered through interpretive process

how are our actions constrained

• constrained by language, culture and social hiearchies

what is society

people engaging in symbolic interaction

what is the role of emotions

• emotions are central to meaning, behavior and the self

what should be the fundamental unit of social psychology

the social act (joint action)

what is the social act or joint action

what people do together (orienting ourselves to others and their actions)

what are the three key features of joint action

• routine and repetitive

• connected to previous contexts and forms of conduct

• linked to a larger and complex network of actions

symbolic interactionism methods

• naturalistic inquiry bc enables examination of meaning and joint action

• exploration (data collection), inspection (data analysis)

how are sensation and conceptualization distinct yet linked

Sensation: all senses pick up stimuli

Perception/Conceptualization involves interpretation by using common ways of understanding

Linked: senses pick up stimuli and our conceptualization makes sense of the stimuli through common ways of understanding in categories

What is somatic work and how does it reflect the relationship between sensation and conceptualization

Somatic Work-interprets smell by making sense of it

Reflects the relationship because sensation (smell) is external stimuli and the work is conceptualization through interpretation

What are the differences between a sign and a symbol? Why symbols important? How are symbols linked to culture and ideoculture? Is flipping someone off a social object

• signs are directly connected to an object and brings habitual response (smoke is a sign of fire)

• symbol is human made that people create to stand for something else (flipping someone off)

• social objects have shared meaning and call out common responses

• humans create the symbols and the symbols becoem shared knowledge (ideoculture)

Importance of naming? Hellen Keller story importance of naming

people will believe something is different if you give it a different name (palmetto bugs, roaches)

hellen keller shows we work to invent our language if we were not exposed to it as a child, also shows the human capacity of symbolic language only activated if used to interact with others

social cognition

• organizing and sorting sensory data through naming or applying categories to it

social identity

• mental category to locate person in relation to others

how do interactionists view socialization?

• as ongoing process through how people develop identities and learn ways of thinking, feeling and acting

• people viewed as active agents in their lives who can impact their own socialization (socialization doesnt just happen to people)

what are the phases of the looking glass self and how does it relate to the dialectical self

people learn to see themselves in the reflections of others; dialectical self (the I and Me) the I is what you want for yourself and the Me is how you imagine the others view you

1. imagine self from anothers perspective

2. imagine judgement

3. self feeling (pride/shame)

meads three stages of development and the generalized other

• prepatory stage where kids are imitators and do not role take

• play stage where they learn how to role take (use others perspectives) especially roles played by important people

• game stage wjere they develop capacity to respond to expectations

• generalized other: taking on the perspectives of many people

primary v secondary socialization

• primary is how children learn how to become mature responsible members of society thru social institutions

• secondary is formal training throughout life

agents of socialization and reference groups

agents of socializaltion are influences who exert socialization

reference group is the group whose perspective you use to organize thoughts actions and self images to

what is a status passage and how do they involve rites of passage, turning points and epiphanies

status passage is movement in and out of social statuses in life

status passage

• rites of passage - billy becoming a certain age and liking ballet

• turning point - billy standing up to father

• epiphanies - billy speaking about how dance made him feel

stages of status passages

• seperation from previous status

• liminal space between the two statuses

• incorporation of new status into who you are

what strategoes do caretakers use to socialize children into public life

• instruction by instructing children about socially acceptable behaviors (rule statements, commands)

• coaching by learning to align actions with ceremonial conduct (tell them ur sorry)

what are the two sets of practices that mothers engage in to normalize heterosexuality for their children

• assuming heterosexuality and constructing heteronormativity

  • say childrens behaviors are evidence of sexuality when discussing behaviors towards opposite sex peers

  • most parents assume children are heterosexual

• teaching heterosexuality through love and marriage

what strategies did mothers use if they realize their kids might grow up to be gay

• preparing for possibility of homosexuality (few)

• hoping for the best (most)

  • dont parent in ways that being gay will be easier but will accept child

• parenting for prevention (1/3rd)

in what ways do children use racial and ethnic concepts to exclude and include others

• exclude others — use racial stereotypes to exclude others like the white girl who said she didnt want to sleep next to the blk girl bc she “smells bad”

• include others — use culture to include others like the girl teaching the other students chinese

in what ways do children use racial and ethnic concepts to define self and others

define self— the biracial girl has black mom and white dad. she defines the white bunnies as boys and the black and spotted bunnies as girls bc her mom is a girl and shes a girl

what ways do children use ethnic concepts to define control others

• say can or cannot do things bc of race, white girl says that black boy cannot bring home the white bunnies bc he is black