Assess the contribution of interactionism to our understanding of society.

Authors Avatar

Assess the contribution of interactionism to our understanding of society

The key underling principle that the interactionist perspective is based upon is the claim that social reality is constructed through actions and interactions of people. Interactionism developed rapidly in the 1960’s as a response to structural perspectives like Functionalism and Marxism. There are 3 main branches of Interactionism, these are as follows. Social action theory argues that social ‘actors’ carry out actions to pursue goals. Their values and their perception of the situation influences their choice of goals and the selection of the means to achieve them. Symbolic interactionism is centred around the concept of ‘self’. The self is how we see ourselves as objects in the social world, to show that individuals are self-reflective and that by using their understanding of past experiences they can modify present action. Ethnomethodology examines the method by which individuals make sense of everyday reality. Social reality is seen as precarious and therefore as constantly being accomplished by individuals

Join now!

With Interactionist sociology individual groups are studied not whole societies.

Social order emerges from shared meanings, if people define situations as real then they are real in their consequences.  The general approach is anti- positivist and anti-scientific, roles are negotiated by individuals and are not imposed by society or the ruling class e.g. between doctors and patients. Sociologists must discover the meanings and interpretations of individuals in social action by placing themselves in the social positions of those individuals and gaining an empathetic understanding.

Interactionist approaches can be applied to various areas of social life including Education, ...

This is a preview of the whole essay