Revisiting+the+Individual

You may recall from our class discussion back in February that Symbolic Interactionism is my favorite theory. What we are going to do today is review the basic tenants of the theory and then explore what that means. Tony and Fiona will cover the textbook. I think it’d be best if one of ya’ll focused on Goffman and the other focused on Garfinkel. Perhaps Fiona can do Goffman and Tony can do Garfinkel? Let me know if that is a problem. Please post your summaries and discussion questions on the discussion tab. Remember, the rest of you are expected to participate in discussions (at least 4-5 posts on a single thread). I’m going to quickly summarize the basic ideas of SI, then cover Goffman. Be sure to read all of this as there are some active learning exercises thrown in! Two main points: 1. SI highlights the social situation while placing //__less__// emphasis on the individual psychology. “In other words, behavior is assumed to be organized primarily in response to social factors.” (O’Brien 2004) 2. Behavior is assumed to be caused by “the nonobservable process of individual interpretation. In other words, behavior is based on subjective interpretation of the social environment //__instead of being a direct response to objective stimuli__//.” (O’Brien 2004) Five central ideas of symbolic interactionsim: 1. SI focuses on the nature of social interaction, the dynamic social activities taking place among persons. //The interaction is the unit of analysis.// Not psychology, not even social structure, but rather the interaction. 2. Human action is caused not only by social interaction with other people, but also results from interaction within the individual. That is, our actions and behaviors are related to our previously held attitudes and beliefs (justification, rationalizing behaviors). 3. Humans do not sense their environment directly but instead define their situations as they go along. My actions are based on my definitions of a given situation. Those definitions are shaped by interaction and can be changed based on interaction. 4. We are not controlled by what happened to us in the past; we are not simply playing out personality traits we developed early in our lives. Our actions are always caused by what happens in the present situation, more specifically, how we are defining what is happening right now. 5. Humans, unlike other animals in nature, are able to take an active part in the cause of their own action. That is, we can control our own definitions of situations and, therefore, influence our own behaviors. __ Using SI to understand behavior: __ http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-march-3-2010/anchor-management Here is a recent video clip of the Jon Stewart Show. On the show he is (as you might imagine) making fun of Fox News. While Jon is approaching the situation as if Fox News is hypocritical, lets try to understand the situation from the perspective of the Fox News broadcasters: 1. How might we understand Megan Kelly’s reliance on polls in one situation and her rejection of polls in another? 2. How might we understand the repetition of the phrase “ram it down our throats” from a variety of Fox News broadcasters? 3. In what ways does Jon Stewart engage in behaviors that are similar to the broadcasters on Fox News? __ Erving Goffman and the presentation of self: __ Goffman advances our understanding of society and human behavior by allowing us to better understand the relationship between our sense of self and our interactions with others. Take a minute to observe the behaviors of someone around you. Preferably a close friend of yours, someone who’s personal self stories you are familiar with. Watch them interact in a social situation (or watch them on facebook). Notice how they engage in impression management, how they change or manipulate their social selves and how they engage in role embracement or distancing. Are they aware of their impression management behaviors, do you think? Are you aware of yours? What happens when the impression management fails?
 * Organizing Ourselves: **
 * Summarizing Symbolic Interactionsim: **