Sociological Explainations of Crime: Interactionism

By Kay White

Meade (1863-1931) was an American sociologist, psychologist and philosopher

Seen as the founder of sociology in America and the Interactionist theory

Blumer (1900-1987) continued on Meade’s work in Interactionism, developing SYMBOLIC

INTERACTIONISM

MEADE

BLUMER

INTERACTIONISM: The study of individuals and how they act within society

The belief that everyone has different values, cultures and beliefs. So, for example, it can’t be generalized that all people from the same social class/location etc think the same way

Interactionists study society on a micro level Interactionists reject statistical data (too

broad/biased) and work more with qualitative data

Participant observation allows them to access symbols and meanings in the way people interact (Verstehen)

Became particularly influential in sociology in the 1960’s and 70’s

Crime and deviance is not a response of people to their social situation

The criminal or deviant can be quite normal

Focus is on how society defines certain groups as criminal or deviant

Questions the idea that there is a general consensus as to what is right or wrong in society

Interactionists argue that laws are less frequently/strictly applied to certain groups compared to others

Cicourel 1968 youth offenders in America found that white middle class youths were less liable to identification by police – more recent studies support this

Police have a stereotype

Evaluates human interaction Blumer saw humans acting towards

social objects because of the meaning they associate with that object

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNWhBq1HQ5g

American Socioligist’s podcast from 2001

“The symbolic interactionist’s approach, sees society as a product of everyday interactions of individuals”

http://www.sociology.org.uk/devtint1.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interactionism

“Theories of Crime” edited by Ian Marsh with Gaynor Melville, Keith Morgan, Gareth Norris and Zoe Walkington, 2006, Routledge

http://www.colorado.edu/communication/meta-discourses/Papers/App_Papers/Nelson.htm