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, Religion, Crime etc. Using the example of Education, teachers and students are seen as social actors who conform to shared beliefs on the role of a teacher and the role of a student. However these roles are a product of the interactions between teacher and student. An example of this is the labelling theory, where classroom interactions cause the teacher to label a student as ‘hard working’ or ‘disruptive’ etc. which influences the attitudes and expectations of students and can sometimes result in a self – fulfilling prophecy where the student becomes their label.
Interactionist approaches have been criticised for over-emphasising the importance of interaction situations. Their perspective has been seen as too narrow, looking at interactions in isolation to the rest of society. For example such things as the distribution of power in society as a whole? Won’t this impinge on interaction situations and affect the construction of meanings and the outcome of negotiations?
Many sociologists argue that good sociology should combine both interaction situations and the wider society. In this way it is possible to study both social structure and social action and to examine the relationship between the two.
In conclusion to this argument it is clear that the interactionist perspective which emphasises the importance of social action in understanding society and the Functionalist, Marxist and Structuralist perspectives which emphasises the importance of social structure in understanding society both need to be considered to get a fair and full appreciation of society. Giddens called this the Structuraction theory, he claims that structures are produced by social action and it is only through social action that they are maintained over time. However at the same time it is only by the existence of structures that actions are made possible.