Examples Of The Symbolic Interactionist Perspective

In the United States and in several other countries around the world, many people recognize Wal-Mart for being a great place to shop for any and every household item on the market. However, sociologist find Wal-Mart to be a bit more than just a one-stop shop for everyday items. Sociologist use different perspectives to view society and its functions to evaluate the “why’s” and “what’s” within a society. The two main perspectives or theories used by sociologists to analyze society are macrosociology and microsociology, but more specifically: Functionalism, Conflict Theory, and Symbolic Interactionism.

This response addresses question four and define the provided theories, which include structural functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism. In doing so, various components of the theories are identified in relation to the topic of social change. In doing so, it is important to point out that in sociology, theories are used to explain the patterns, the way groups of people decide to perform specific actions, and the way societies do certain things or rather experience a change in a different manner. On the other hand, social change implies the growth and development of a social order, which bears some significant consequences.

Internationally the act of deviance is being practiced daily. Sometimes is knowingly and unknowingly, the culture, or the society norms. Right or wrong is a prospective, deviance basically a judgmental call. “It is important to remember that when sociologists use the term deviant they are making a social judgment, never a moral one” (Ferris, Stein page 156.) There are three way that you can view deviance from a sociologist’s standpoint, which are, Functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism. All three allow us to take an outlook on how to view the act of deviance.

Three sociological perspectives used in the study of minorities are: Structural functionalism, symbolic interactionalism and conflict theory. These perspectives offer "theoretical paradigms" for explaining how society influences people, taking into account the social factors that impact on human behavior. However, different theories, ideas, and prejudices can influence a sociologist's conclusions. Each of these theories has a contribution to make with a distinct focus.

In The Blind Side, Michael was raised in the projects of Memphis, Tennessee. One evening after a basketball game Leigh Anne Touhy notices Michael walking down the road, shivering in the cold. After having her husband stop the car to speak to him, she had learned Michael had planned to sleep at the school gym after everyone else had left. Leigh Anne offered Michael a warm place to sleep at her and her family’s home. This moment between these two was Michael’s first real feeling of family. This sparked the relationship that would give him a reason to keep living and gave him something to live for. Leigh Anne continued to include Michael in family gatherings which only enhanced the motherly feeling Michael got from her.

Everyday thousands of senior citizens and people with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia suffer from abuse by a caregiver. Most of the abuse is in the form of emotional or physical abuse, but there are also a number of different types of abuse including financial abuse. The abuse can either take place in a medical setting such as a nursing home or hospital, or it can also be done by the victim’s own family members. These senior citizens are mostly targeted due to the fact that they are mentally incapacitated; they do not have a very strong short term memory, and sometimes they do not have the ability to talk to another individual about how their caregiver has been abusing them.

In this paper, I will use a personal experience in which my actions were greatly influenced by the pressure of groupthink to demonstrate my sociological knowledge and to further analyze the situation using Symbolic Interactionism. My experience with bullying and the role that I played in the situation is an excellent example of groupthink leading people to display uncharacteristic behaviors and make choices they would not have otherwise as an individual (Baker 2017).

Just about in any situation you can watch a group of people and notice how they function together to help to maintain the equilibrium of society. I didn’t believe that it was possible to look at literally any social situation big or small and see different parts of the social group working together for the greater good of society. After watching my step daughter’s soccer game, I can now see how we all have different roles to help keep the society stable. With the help of the ideas from functionalists like Robert Merton, Talcott Parson, and Emile Durkheim I can now observe and describe how functionalism works even in a soccer game.

We can’t do without anyone”(Huxley 91). This is related to our society by the fact that everyone has a specific part to play for things to work properly.

Explain the three major sociological perspectives of functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism. Identify which perspectives use a macrolevel or a microlevel of analysis. Apply each perspective to socialization.

The social perspective of functionalism believes that everything that happens in society has a purpose and is important. The way in which society is shaped is due to the functions of the sick, the frail elderly people and the education system. Also includes social structures, which are religion, the economy and family. All of these structures depend on each other. Also

Sociology is the function of the human society, and social problems among us. There are three different theories that I will be discussing in this essay. The theories are symbolic interactionism, The conflict theory and functional analysis perspectives. These perspectives help make up the way society thinks as a whole. All three of these perspectives are alike, as much as they are different.

The symbolic interactionism theory is the view of social behavior of individual that emphasizes linguistic and the gestural communication in a society and its subjective understanding of different matters, but especially the role of language in the formation of the child as a social being and social behavior in the society.

Sociology is the study of the social lives of human beings and how humans live culturally and socially develop relationships. It is crucial to understand the society that humans live in and a series of social behavior that humans undergo. The three major ways you could view sociology, Structural Functionalism, Conflict theory, and Symbolic Interaction. Not everyone will have the same sociological perspective because the different perspectives are truly based on what you believe this world runs on.

George Herbert Mead studied and used an interactionist approach for many years. He was a philosophy professor at the university of Chicago. Mead thought that the true test to any theory is whether or not it is useful in solving complex social problems (EM Griffin, p.83). So Mead decided to study the procedures of communicating, specifically with symbols, the theory was titled Symbolic Interactionism.