EXAM need within 24 hours

SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1More Major Symbolic Interaction Theorists

W. I. THOMAS (1863-1947)

$ Born in Virginia

$ World traveler, spoke many languages

$ Studied languages and philosophy

$ 1886 – earned Ph.D.

$ Taught Greek and History

$ Studied in Europe

$ Returned to U of Chicago, 1894-1918

$ Received a second Ph.D. in 1896

$ Researched crime (especially juvenile delinquency), immigration

$ Left U of Chicago in 1918 after scandal

$ Guest lecturer at New School and Harvard

$ Married twice, (1) Harriet Park, divorced in 1934, (2) Dorothy Swaine, a statistician, 34 years his junior; he

buried beside first wife in Tennessee

Contributions:

He emphasized qualitative research, life history, and case study methods while researching immigration and juvenile crimes

Major work:

The Unadjusted Girl, 1923, study of female delinquents

When studying these women; we can’t study one part of a person’s life without knowing the person’s whole life; our goal should be toward making these girls socially valuable members of society. p 233-234

In that book his Key Idea ‘Definition of the Situation’

“Preliminary to any self-determined act of behavior there is always a stage of examination and deliberation which we may call the definition of the situation. And actually not only concrete acts are dependant on the definition of the situation, but gradually a whole life-policy and the personality of the individual himself follow from a series of such definitions.”

p 42, italics in original

Three Steps

1. Situation

2. People give meaning to that situation

3. Then Social Behavior

If people define situations as real, they are real.

But Thomas points out that a child is born into a group in which many situations that may arise have already been defined by others. Groups, especially the family, define situations for the child. By the family, playmates, school, churches, through reading, by signs of approval and disapproval the child learns the code of the society. p 42-43

Thomas wrote, along with Florian Znaniecki, The Polish Peasant in Europe and America. originally 5 volumes, 1918-1921

$ First major research study in American sociology

$ Helped make sociology a research based science

$ First major study of immigration, 1890-1910

$ Used case study methods, individual life histories

$ In Poland the family and the Catholic church kept people united

$ In America emphasis on individualism, education

$ Immigrants went from rural Poland to Chicago

$ How did people adjust and change?

$ How does social structure affect social action?

$ From disorganization to organization

$ Sometimes conflict between older and younger generations

For years, Polish Peasant ignored but, now because of increased interest in immigration, being studied again.

ERVING GOFFMAN (1922-1982)

$ Born in Canada

$ Moved to USA late 1940s

$ 1962-1982 Professor at U of Pennsylvania

$ 1952 married Angelica Chaote, 1 child – Angelica died by suicide in 1964

$ he married Gillian Sankoff in 1981, 1 child

$ he died in Philadelphia of stomach cancer

$ wife and daughter are also sociologists

First became known in 1956 with publication of

The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life

He’s studying everyday life

All actions are social performances that aim to give and maintain certain desired impressions of oneself to others. Or, in other words, we try to present the best possible view of ourselves to others that is most likely going to get is what ever it is that we want.

No exceptions

To analyze this he uses a theatrical model. He uses theatrical terms:

$ social behavior is like a dramatic performance in which we are trying to convey a certain image of ourselves to

others

$ we are all performers

$ we give performances

$ we play a part

$ we have an audience

$ we are onstage

$ or back stage

$ we follow a script

$ we rehearse

$ we have and use props

$ to gather information he studied life in a restaurant in Scotland

This is called the Dramaturgical Approach

A criticism: do we have no genuine self but only a series of different selves we create to fit particular situations?

A second major book is Asylums. 1961

$ study of life in mental hospitals

$ unique in that these hospitals are studied from the viewpoint, not of the doctors and staff, but of the patients

$ Goffman writes:

$ in everyday situations no one challenges us when we present ourselves to others

$ for example, if you tell me that you are a sociology major, you live in New York, are married, and that you want to be a teacher I will accept that

$ however, with the mentally ill, we deny or challenge how they present themselves

$ in the example above, suppose when you told me those things about yourself, I said to you, “none of that is true, you are not a college student, this is not New York, you are not married.”

$ You can’t win: if you argue with me, that proves you are mentally ill, but if you tell me I’m right, you are admitting your illness

A book with a major impact was Stigma, 1963

$ “The term stigma, then, will be used to refer to an attribute that is deeply discrediting.” p. 3

$ You may be treated in a negative way

$ There are three types of stigma: something about a person physically, their character, or tribal (he means their group membership)

$ the person with the stigma may be laughed at, assaulted, called names, imprisoned, isolated, no contact with you, fired from job, disowned by family, discriminated against

$ how does stigmatized person respond: hide the stigma (if possible), remove the stigma, divide the world into those who know and those who don’t, avoid others, find something positive, develop other more acceptable skills, form subcultures

$ two categories who don’t stigmatize: the Own (people with the stigma) the Wise (don’t have the stigma but don’t care that you do)

One more study Total Institutions, 1961

$ a place where you live (maybe work), with others like you, cut off from society, live an enclosed, formally administered life

$ examples: prisons, asylums, navy ship at sea, boarding schools, monasteries, convents, isolated military bases, homes for blind, long-term care facilities, nursing homes

$ these are often dehumanizing places

$ demanding conformity to rules

$ highly regimented life

THE CHICAGO SCHOOL

What do we mean by ‘SCHOOL’?

1. An organized group of scholars working together

2. Producing research studies guided by theory

3. Often a founder, dynamic leader

4. Have a specific set of ideas

5. They want to change and modernize things

6. Usually at a college or university

7. They are successful

All that happened at U of Chicago from late 1910s on

They wanted to emphasize scientific research

They encouraged research and objectivity

Albion W. Small founder

Robert Park told students:

$ to become a sociologist

$ reading books important

$ taking courses important

$ library research important

$ but these will never make anyone a real sociologist

$ get out of the classroom and library

$ and into the field

$ other sciences (psychology, biology, etc.) can work in a laboratory in room in a building

$ sociologists can’t do that very well

$ we must go where people behave socially

$ the city of Chicago is our laboratory

And students did:

a few studies:

Lewis Wirth The Ghetto (Jewish ghetto)

Frederick Thrasher, The Gang

Burgess and Locke, The Family

Faris and Dunham, Mental Illness in Urban Areas

E. Franklin Frazier, The Negro Family in Chicago, Black Bourgeoisie

John Landesco, Organized Crime in Chicago

Paul Cressey, The Taxi Dance Hall

Everett Hughes, Men and Their Work

Harvey Zorbach, The Gold Coast and the Slum

Edwin Sutherland, The Professional Thief

Robert Park, Race and Culture

Shaw and McKay, The Jack Roller

KEY IDEAS:

Blumer, What is Symbolic Interaction, 3 points

Cooley, Primary Group, Looking Glass Self

Mead, Social Behaviorism, Self, Significant Other, Generalized Other, Take the Role of the Other, Stages: Imitation, Play, Game, I and M, Importance of language

Thomas, Definition of the Situation, Polish Peasant, Qualitative Research (Case Study, Life History)

Goffman, Presentation of Self, Asylums, Stigma, Total Institution

Chicago School, study real life situations in the field, Research methods

CRITICISMS OF SYMBOLIC INTERACTION

1. Too little attention to social structure, power, conflict

2. Overemphasis on qualitative research

3. Little emphasis on statistics

4. Too psychologically oriented

5. Ignores macro-sociology (focuses too much on ‘trees’ rather than the ‘forest’)

6. Often difficult to test because it relies on people’s subjective definitions

7. Case Study and Life History methods do not allow for generalizations (in other words, we don’t know how typical this case or this life is).