Question

Discuss the contributions and limitations of symbolic interactionism as a sociological perspective in the study and understanding of human societies

Answer 1

Symbolic interactionism is a theory that focuses on the relationships among individuals within a society. Communication is the exchange of meaning through language and symbols is believed to be the way in which people make sense of their social world. In other words, it is a frame of reference to better understand how individuals interact with one another to create symbolic worlds, and in return, how these worlds shape individual behaviors. It is a framework that helps understand how society is preserved and created through repeated interactions between individuals. The interpretation process that occurs between interactions helps create and recreate meaning. It is the shared understanding and interpretations of meaning that affect the interaction between individuals. Individuals act on the premise of a shared understanding of meaning within their social context. Thus, interaction and behavior is framed through the shared meaning that objects and concepts have attached to them. From this view, people live in both natural and symbolic environments. Symbolic interactionism comes from a sociological perspective which developed around the middle of the twentieth century and that continues to be influential in some areas of the discipline. It is particularly important in microsociologyand social psychology.  George Herbet Mead is known as the founder of symbolic interactionism. Mead and a student Herbert Blumer together coined the term symbolic interactionism and also outlines these basic premises: human interact with things based on meanings ascribed to those things, the meaning of things that come from our interactions with others and the society, the meanings of things that are interpreted by the person when dealing with things in specific circumstances. The social scientists who apply the symbolic interactionist thinking mainly look for patterns of interaction between individuals and these studeies often involve observation of one-on-one interactions. The focus is on the importance of symbols in building a society led sociologists like Erving Goffman to develop a technique called dramaturgical analysis. Goffman used theater as an analogy for social interaction and recognized that people’s interactions showed patterns of cultural “scripts.” Because it can be unclear what part a person may play in a given situation, he or she has to improvise his or her role as the situation unfolds. Studies that use the symbolic interactionist perspective are more likely to use qualitative research methods, such as in-depth interviews or participant observation, because they seek to understand the symbolic worlds in which research subjects live.

Constructivism is an extension of symbolic interaction theory which proposes that reality is what humans cognitively construct it to be. This approach is often used to understand what’s defined as deviant within a society. There is no absolute definition of deviance, and different societies have constructed different meanings for deviance, as well as associating different behaviors with deviance.

CONTRIBUTION

This theory helps to underscore the relationship between the meaning of symbols and a persons behaviour and also helps us to give an insight into small scale human interactions. It also recognises the perceptions of reality are vairable and the changing environmental as well as social interactions.

CRITICISM

Symbolic interactionists are often criticized for being overly impressionistic in their research methods and somewhat unsystematic in their theories. It is argued that the theory is not one theory, but rather, the framework for many different theories. Additionally, some theorists have a problem with symbolic interaction theory due to its lack of testability. These objections, combined with the fairly narrow focus of interactionist research on small-group interactions and other social psychological issues, have relegated the interactionist camp to a minority position among sociologists (albeit a fairly substantial minority). The symbols which are made may be interpreted incorrectly or differently among different groups of people and it can be difficult to quntify things in symbolic interactionism because this theory deals with the interpretaions and it thus very subjective in nature. It also overestimates the power of individuals to create their own realities and ignoring the extent to which humans inhibit a world which is not of their own making. It neglects the emotional dimension of human conduct and focuses strictly on logical behaviour.