Symbolic Interaction Theory In Finding A Family

Symbolic interactionism perspective is a theory that is used to study social life. To do this, this theory relies on studying and observing the interactions among people and how they form meanings to things from those interactions. Although, there is much more to this theory than that. Blumer, the man who invented the term symbolic interactionism, presented three premises which help to understand this theory. The first one is, people act a certain way towards things depending on their meaning for that thing. The second premise is that we get meanings from social interaction, so we are taught meanings or we witness them from others. Lastly, the third premise is that meanings are able to change because people have the mental capacity to

The symbolic interactionism theory relies on the symbolic meaning that people develop and rely upon the process of social interaction. With this theory, the reality is seen as social, developed interaction with others. Most symbolic interactionists believe a physical reality does indeed exist by an individual’s social definitions, and that socially develop in relation to something that is real. To simply state it, symbolic interactionism is the way we earn to interpret and give meaning to the world through our interactions with others. Through Michael and Leigh Anne’s interactions, they formed a very strong bond. This bond was equal to the role of a mother-son relationship where Leigh Anne cared for Michael just as she did for her biologic children. She helped him to better himself and his life throughout the entire movie. With the motherly support from Leigh Anne, Michael was able to go forth and make something of himself.

Symbolic Interactionism (1)- The theory of symbolic interactionism conveys how society is made up of symbols that create meaning, develop communication, and produce world views. At the North Hanover Mall all interactions and even moods were established because of simple symbols. The overall mood of the mall was almost the same form person to person, a look of boredom was on the faces of many whether young or old. The attitude seemed to appear in people shortly after they entered the mall, once they had observed other individual’s body language and expressions, they shifted theirs as if they were trying to fit in with the crowd. Contrastingly when an employee

Symbolic Interaction focuses on a micro view of society. It focuses on a small scale perspective of interaction between individuals. Imagine you`re with a friend instead of looking at large scale structures like education or law, since we are looking at the small scale symbolic interaction explains the individual in a society and their interactions with others and through that it can explain social order and change.

Symbolic interaction theory emerged in the early 1900s and is still one of the more frequently used theories in the family studies (Smith & Hamon, 2012). The theory assumes that people have different interpretations of situations due to their personal experiences (Smith & Hamon, 2012). By looking at the behaviors of individuals, symbolic interaction theory explains how multiple people have different reactions to the same situation (Smith & Hamon, 2012).

The symbolic interaction theory relates how individuals correlate actions and items to symbols they create. This association takes place between humans and the society they live in. Individuals can have the same situation going on, but associate different meaning through symbols of how they view what is going on. It is important to note that individuals will act differently based on the meaning of the interaction for the people or things around them. There is also a huge component of the symbolic interaction theory that takes into consideration how individuals think they are perceived. “In symbolic interactionism, this is known as "reflected appraisals" or "the looking glass self," and refers to our ability to think about how other people will think about us” (Boundless, 2015). This will also govern the symbols that we associate with different groups of people that we will encounter.

Humans act toward people, things, and events on the basis of the meanings they assign to them. Once people define a situation as real, it has very real consequences. Without language there would be no thought, no sense of self, and no socializing presence of society within the individual. (Socio-cultural tradition)

a. Symbolic Interaction/pg. 23: a theoretical perspective in which society is viewed as composed of symbols that people use to establish meaning, develop their views of the world, and communicate with one another.

Socialization may also be thought of as the development of one’s self based on interactions with other individuals or groups that may shape our ideas, beliefs, or perspectives about the world in which we live. Charles Horton Cooley describes the “self” as the unique human ability to be able to see ourselves from the outside and to internalize the views of how others see us (Henslin 71). As Cooley describes, humans first imagine how we appear to those around us, interpret other’s reactions towards us, and then use these interpretations to develop a self-concept. However, we are not born

People associate actions with a meaning. As one grows up actions seem to obtain a connotation, weather it be positive or negative. The symbols or meaning people attach to the actions are influenced by one’s socialization. Edward Alsworth Ross, a progressive American sociologist, eugenicist, and major figure of early criminology, suggested socialization is the development of one’s feelings and the will to act based on an influence by a variety of different circumstances and conditions (652). The connotation of an action can differ based on the experiences and circumstances one has lived through. The act of identifying that action with the interpretation is an example of symbolic interactionism. Monica A. Longmore, a professor of sociology at Bowling Green State University, explains symbolic interactionism is the relationship between a behavior and how it is identified (44). Behaviors are comprehended by how it is symbolized in one’s socialization. The thesis of this essay is some basic social behaviors taught in one’s culture are best understood using symbolic interactionism to interpret what is meant on a conscious and subconscious level.

The Social Exchange theory applies to everyone at one time or another. We make exchanges with friends, family, and in the workplace. We cooperate with others and make reasonable decisions to achieve a reward. Sometimes we make sacrifices with the hope of receiving something of value in return in the future.

Symbolic interactionism deals with the interaction between people through symbols, such as language. Certain gestures and words elicit specific reactions, these interactions are sometimes specific to a time or place. These become norms, and when the norms are broken it is called breaching. The reactions studied in symbolic interactionism can be mental or physical. Whereas ethnomethodology studies how people react in day-to-day situations rather than specific instances. It is more concerned with why people have certain behaviors on the micro level.

Symbolic Interactionism is a sociological perspective based mainly on the ideas of George H. Mead, W. I. Thomas, and Charles H. Cooley. The main idea of symbolic interactionism is that life, human life, is lived in a symbolic dominion. Symbols are defined as being “culturally derived social objects having shared meanings that are created and maintained through social interaction.” Symbols can provide the means to which reality- self, mind, society, and culture; all relying on symbolic interactions for its existence- is constructed to individuals through language and

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.

Symbolic interactionism is one of the four major theoretical perspectives in sociology. It is particularly influential in microsociology, which makes this view of social behavior unique from the other three major perspectives that focus on large scale social organizations (Buccieri, September 11 2014). I believe symbolic interactionism is the most appropriate method for studying sociology based on my experience with a brother with Autism Spectrum Disorder. The theory of socialization within symbolic interactionism places importance on the internalized definitions, interpretations and meanings of our social interactions (Tepperman, Albanese & Curtis, 2013, p. 55). This concept applies to how I understand and interpret the human behaviour of my brother, through communication and meaningful symbols.