Action theories

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  • Created by: ciaramcg
  • Created on: 12-06-22 01:33
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  • Action theories
    • weber
      • both structural and action theories important for understanding society
        • level of cause
          • understanding the objective structural factors that shape behaviour
        • level of meaning
          • understanding the subjective meanings that each individual attach to their actions
      • Verstehen
        • putting ourselves in other peoples shoes to understand why they act in a certain way
      • 4 types of action
        • traditional action
          • action that is custom or habit
        • affectual  action
          • action that expresses emotion eg crying at funeral
        • value rational action
          • action towards a goals the person regards as desirable
        • instrumentally rational action
          • calculate the most efficient means of achieving a goal
    • symbolic interactionism
      • mead
        • saw the world via symbols- things we attach meaning to
          • compared to animals, human actions have a 'interpretive phase'
            • we interpret the action based on the context we are in which influences our response to it
          • how we learn meanings of symbols
            • significant other- family, primary socialisation
              • generalised other- school or wider society, secondary socialisation
      • Blumer (develops mead)
        • actions are based on meanings
          • meanings arise from interactions but are NOT fixed
            • the meanings me give to situations are the result of the interpretive procedures we use
        • argues that actions are partly predictable and not completely fixed, room for negotiation
    • labelling theory
      • when we define something we label it
        • Thomas
          • if we label something there will be a consequence
        • cooley
          • looking glass self
            • when we are labelled we see ourselves as others see us
        • self fulfilling prophecy
          • we become the label
    • Goffman
      • dramaturgical model
        • Actively constructing ourselves through manipulating other people's impressions of us
      • society is like a play
        • back stage role
          • Our roles are interchangeable
            • Untitled
        • front stage role
    • Phenomenology
      • Schulz
        • typifications
          • categories and concepts shared with other ppl in society
            • allow us to stabilise meaning and make sure we agree on meanings of  things for communication
      • husserl
        • We don't have definite knowledge of what the world outside our mind is really like
          • only what our sense tells us about it.
            • world only makes sense because we classify and clarify information into mental categories
  • too individualistic and fails to understand shared meaning
    • eg how do others understand the meaning you attach to ur behaviour
  • some actions may have multiple meanings to individuals
  • verstehen- we can't truly understand what others are feeling
  • combines the role of structure with the importance of understanding the meaning of peoples actions
    • functionalists and marxists fail to do
  • functionalists-no negotiation of actions
  • socialisation and social control ensures that ppl conform to societies norms
    • and act in a predicable fixed way - maintaining consensus
  • not everyone conforms to their label
    • Mary fuller research into black girls
  • ethnomethodology
    • garfinkle
      • members actively construct meanings in every-day life using common sense knowledge
        • different to interactionism because it does not focus on the effect of meanings, but instead how meanings were created in the first place
          • Garfinkel believes in indexicality - nothing has a fixed meaning, it depends on the social context.
  • We seek to control the presentation of self - give people a particular impression of us. To do this we must control our impression management

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