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Functionalism: The Interactionalist From A Sociological Perspective

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In reference of sociological approaches and the one that captivated my attention in almost all chapters of text was of the Interactionalist. I analyze that while functionalists and conflict theorists study behavioral patterns on a large scale and throughout society, theorists who adopt the interactionist perspective “make generalizations about everyday forms of interaction to understand society as a whole” (Schaefer 16). The roots of the interactionist perspective was developed in the United States and the founder was George Herbert Mead (Schaefer 16). Importance is given to the consequences of the interaction, these are what define the group and the aspects related to the structure or social organization of the group. Interactions with certain members over a period of time and frequency can become stabilized and acquire a pattern. This pattern …show more content…

For instance, it underlines the key concept of face to face interaction and the symbolic examples of the role models in our society. For example, as the study reflects young offenders will be under the care and custody of familiar individuals and will have a face to face interaction. On the other hand, correctional systems offer more of a structural building that monitors criminals. In reality, correctional facilities do not offer any social interaction and is in most cases a jail cell is not a therapeutic, cultural and educational space for those that live in them. As a matter of fact, this article is fundamental to understand what the processes, patterns and forms of behavior are more normal in the configuration of young people who end up committing crimes and who, because of them, they end up in prison. For that purpose, it was found that keeping young offenders out of incarceration allows the understanding of the impact of social interaction as a solution to the

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Boot camps fail as an effective model to treat juvenile offenders because of the belief that the short amount of time spent in these programs can make a long-term difference in their behavior (Mitchell, 1996, p. 129). Even if an inmate graduates successfully from a boot camp, this is no assurance that he or she will reintegrate into society with the same success. It is most likely for juveniles to experience a hard time adapting to an environment without rigid authority and control. In addition, aggressive behavior may be reproduced outside of boot camps. According to the social learning theory, “behavior is acquired through modeling the behavior of others” (Shipley and Arrigo, 2012, p. 408).

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