Labelling
Interactionists suggest that there are several ideas which underline labelling theory. One of these is the particular situation in which people find themselves in. We can clearly see that if we label people as failures then this will affect how we react to those people. We can see in the past how people reacted to people who were regarded as mad and the mental institution of Bethlehem which later gave rise to the word bedlam showed how in the past such people could often be viewed in the same way as people would now go to a zoo to watch animals. On a less dramatic note we can see that people such as the former Labour minister David Blunkett were regarded as second rate because of their blindness. The assumption was that they could not be educated in the normal way.
Interactionists also talk about the ‘looking glass self’. Charles Cooley suggests that we develop our ideas of who we are when we take on the role of other people …show more content…
He uses drama analogies to analyse the interactions we perform in society. For example, actors have scripts, props and a backstage as well as audiences, performances and roles that we have adopted.
We might notice here that part of the problems of psychological testing which organisations have used to determine whether people are suitable for certain occupations all levels of seniority system are naive in assuming that people cannot spot what organisations expect from them and therefore adjust perception of them accordingly. The human relations department will notice that some people are able to give good interview performances that do not reflect a person’s real personality. We can find more melodramatic examples of this in Nazi Germany, where the people in charge of the gas chambers often introduced themselves to their victims in a very polite manner without the victims realising what was
Interactionists suggest that there are several ideas which underline labelling theory. One of these is the particular situation in which people find themselves in. We can clearly see that if we label people as failures then this will affect how we react to those people. We can see in the past how people reacted to people who were regarded as mad and the mental institution of Bethlehem which later gave rise to the word bedlam showed how in the past such people could often be viewed in the same way as people would now go to a zoo to watch animals. On a less dramatic note we can see that people such as the former Labour minister David Blunkett were regarded as second rate because of their blindness. The assumption was that they could not be educated in the normal way.
Interactionists also talk about the ‘looking glass self’. Charles Cooley suggests that we develop our ideas of who we are when we take on the role of other people …show more content…
He uses drama analogies to analyse the interactions we perform in society. For example, actors have scripts, props and a backstage as well as audiences, performances and roles that we have adopted.
We might notice here that part of the problems of psychological testing which organisations have used to determine whether people are suitable for certain occupations all levels of seniority system are naive in assuming that people cannot spot what organisations expect from them and therefore adjust perception of them accordingly. The human relations department will notice that some people are able to give good interview performances that do not reflect a person’s real personality. We can find more melodramatic examples of this in Nazi Germany, where the people in charge of the gas chambers often introduced themselves to their victims in a very polite manner without the victims realising what was