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Explain The Arguments Against Symbolic Interactionism

962 Words4 Pages

Symbolic interactionism is a micro level theory that mainly focuses on the interactions between individuals and how those individuals seek to attach meaning to objects they encounter. Theory has contributed a lot in sociology as well as Social Psychology and has been seen to have some flaws and it is for this reason that this assignment will discusses critically the critics labeled against symbolic interactionism and how those critics came about. It further provides personal insight and an inclusive conclusion.
Symbolic Interactionism
Symbolic interactionism is a sociological theory that puts more emphasis on individuals and how they behave. According to Mead (cited by Griffin, 2012:54) it involves the usage of language and gestures a person utilizes in the hope that people will respond to them and the response that the listener gives will be based on how the first speaker will respond. It is a theory characterized by human interaction, understanding of response based on meaning. Blumer further broken down the theory into three …show more content…

The theory has been criticized for not concentrating on social structures (Benzies, 2001:543). The theory places more emphasis on interactions and does not explain how societies as whole changes, and does not integrate importance of society as well as social structure (Stryker, 1987:84) say for example a group of individuals in their early adulthood destroy properties or constantly violate rules, never conform to societal norms in a nutshell they are delinquents, when assessing their behavior from symbolic interactionism point of view ,focus will be placed on how the young adults make such decisions as when and where to rob carry out their conduct behaviors and on how their interactions with other groups of individuals reinforce their own delinquent tendencies rather than macro features like social

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