Pages 39-44 Chapter 2 Interpreting Social Problems: Aging Symbolic Interactionism
Jan 18, 2016
Pages 39-44
Chapter 2Interpreting Social Problems: Aging
Symbolic Interactionism
Symbolic Interactionism
The sociological theory that focuses on how we make sense out of life is called symbolic interactionism. We see the world through
symbols, things to which we attach meaning and that we use to communicate with one another
SI studies how symbols give us our view of the world and how we use them to communicate
Our views of life include what we consider to be social problems
What are symbols?Describe someone who is advanced
in age, or an “old person”.
What are symbols?Describe this car and the person
who owns it.
What are symbols?Describe this woman.
What are symbols? Symbols:
Images on television Movies Printed and spoken
word Body language Gestures Tone of voice Clothing Hair styles
Symbols Today
In 1970 Robin Williams identified core American values:• Equal Opportunity• Achievement and Success• Material Comfort• Activity and Work• Practicality and Efficiency• Progress• Science• Democracy and Enterprise• Freedom From Macionis, John J. 2005. Sociology. 10th ed. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall. p. 66.
Why is J.Lo sosuccessful?
Find an image of a celebritythat you like…
• How is your celebrity different or similar to J.Lo? • What does this image of a celebrity tell us about how
we should live our lives, how we should look and behave?
• Do you think you should strive to be like celebrities? (both in terms of looks and lifestyle)? Why or why not?
Symbols Change
“Old” used to mean wisdom, generosity, graciousness, and beauty The elderly were admired
for their accomplishments and accumulated knowledge.
As society advanced in public heath and medicine, many people reached old age and the elderly were no longer distinct
Symbols Change With machinery and mass
production, work was becoming “deskilled” Younger workers became just
as knowledgeable and productive as the older ones
As the elderly lost the uniqueness that had brought them respect, their social value declined “old” begins to mean
uselessness, foolishness, and no longer looked up to
Symbols Change
Because symbols change, so do social problems When only a few people made
it to old age, it was a personal problem, not a social problem
Today, with so many people reaching old age, we perceive elderly people as a group Social action is appropriate
for solving their problems
Development of Symbolic Interactionism How we symbolize our self and others influences
our behavior. All of us make choices on the basis of what we
think fits our self-images George Herbert Mead focused on the role of
symbols in social life Symbols allow us to have goals, to plan, to
evaluate, and to develop our self-concept Symbols allow us to take the roles of others
and put ourselves in their shoes Mead called this action of taking the role of
other people in general the generalized other
Development of Symbolic Interactionism Charles Horton Cooley
analyzed how the self develops through interactions with others people come to view
themselves as they think others perceive them
Our interactions with others create a looking-glass self
Development of Symbolic Interactionism Our self has 3 elements:
How we imagine we appear to others
How we think others feel about what they perceive
How we feel about this reflected image
Our self-esteem depends on our looking-glass self
If a society reflects negative images to its old people, the elderly tend to think of themselves negatively
Development of Symbolic Interactionism Peter Berger and Thomas
Luckmann developed the concept of the social construction of reality When things happen to us we have
to figure out what they mean Based on what we think they mean,
we respond with a reaction As we go through life we
continuously make sense out of what happens to us
Another way of saying this is that eachof us is involved in the social
construction of reality.
Development of Symbolic Interactionism Reality does not come with
built-in meanings, but, we construct our realities as we apply symbol to our experiences
Ex: When is someone considered old? Why?
Because not all cultures have the same symbols, the construction of reality changes from culture to culture
A Japanese soldier who losesa battle and falls on his sword,
symbol of honor and duty explainhis actions.
A suicide in America does nothave the same symbols that
explain the action. Symbols arethat it is the family’s responsibilityto prevent the suicide which leads
to guilt. In both cases, the survivors areusing the symbols their culture
provides to socially construct reality. The reality is different because thecultures provide different symbols.
Classwork/Homework
Read page 45
Write a one page response
Applying Symbolic Interactionism to Social Problems Social problems are socially
constructed.
social problems do not exist until some condition of society is called a social problem
The fact that there are elderly people does not mean that there is a social problem
the status of the elderly depends on how the elderly are viewed or labeled
Because social problems are socially constructed, what is considered a social problem changes over time
Applying Symbolic Interactionism to Social Problems Symbolic interactionists
stress the significance of labeling people categorize
everything Ex: the label of “old age”
is sometimes used to explain health problems
Labels affect how we perceive and react to social problems