Symbolic interactionism

From many years of sociological research, collecting quantitative and qualitative data, three sociological theories have stood the test of time. These dominant theories are, the Structural-Functional Approach, the Social-Conflict Approach and the Symbolic-Interaction Approach. “Each sociological theory presented has a unique way of explaining social behaviour in the real world”. (Thiessen, 2017) These theories have all been developed by good sociologists; sociologists who remain objective and…

In comparing and contrasting the presentation of the self through Erving Goffman’s The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life to Max Weber’s Bureaucracy and The Types of Legitimate Domination, they portray how one’s own self is shaped by society and to what extent people are free from society. As Weber tends to look at how hierarchies are impacted by the institutions of society and the leaders that are conditioned to fill those roles, Erving Goffman takes a unique perspective on the formation…

approaches, structural-functional approach, the social-conflict approach, and the symbolic-interaction approach. These three approaches majorly contribute to the understanding of how our society works. Sociologist also apply these three theoretical approaches to how families function and their operations. Structural-functional approach and social-conflict approach are on the macro-level of analysis, while symbolic-interaction approach is on a micro-level of analysis. These approaches are…

What is considered as the term ‘the gaze' can be constructed of how a society views individuals or even a group of individuals of the same qualities. An individual's perception can affect the functionality of society and civilisation. By assessing the gaze, we can determine how groups of individuals will be treated. It is common that the different groups of minorities that make up society, for example- homosexuals, will stand out of the ‘norms' that make up our everyday lives which can, in turn,…

Communication is the study of social science, a collaborative construction and negotiation of meaning between the self and others as it occurs within cultural contexts. It is the process of using words, sounds, signs, or behaviors to express or exchange information or to express ideas, thoughts, feelings, and so forth, to someone else. The goal of this discourse community is to inform members of the community about new research ideas and understand how people use messages to generate meanings…

SIT maintains that people use different processes to define their social reality and their own position in relation to others (Ellemers & Haslam, 2012). These processes are social categorisation, social comparison and social identification. Social categorisation is the process of deciding which group you or others belong to and is a psychological process that provides a way of responding to complex social situations. Individuals think of people in terms of certain social categories in order to…

It is said without a doubt, that pop culture has profound influence on our lives every day. From advertisements before YouTube videos to the ads that sponsor our favorite radio station, we are surrounded by pop culture. Whether the effect is subliminal or prominent, there is no denying it. From a young age, we are subject to our environment. Things don’t just “go in one ear and out the other,” they stick and we learn from them, we are influenced and socialized because of them. As we grow up,…

Sociology is the study of the structure of society, human relationships, and the behavior of organized groups. It analyzes social worlds and the individuals that live within them (Dykstra-Crookshanks 2017). These studies include a wide range of subjects such as culture, gender, ethnicity, and race. Our world is filled with social issues and movies are a way for filmmakers to portray social conflicts. These movies can be made to increase awareness of issues or to simply make a statement about…

Social philosophy claims to have prominent places for protest and mass movement. This paper is an attempt to explore these concepts in the eyes of three Modern Indian philosophers, i.e., Rabindranath Tagore, Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. People protest for many reasons. Social psychology has lots to offer the study of protest. At the heart of every protest are grievances, such as experience of illegitimate inequality,…

In the theoretical models of sociology, there are 3 different ideologies. Compared to the other theorists, Max Webber takes a very different approach to proper sociological theoretical models. His idea is that society as a whole is basically the sum of all the everyday interactions of the individuals in the society. He believes that the term we call society is nothing more than a shared reality between its various inhabitants, and very influenced by it. In Max Webber’s view, if one wants to…