Concepts of Symbolic Interactionism

Concepts of Symbolic Interactionism Aspects of the contemporary society of Britain, such as the Education and Religion may be explained through the use of the sociological perspectives, functionalism and symbolic interactionism. These perspectives offer contrasting insights into the inner-workings of society and are useful in attempting to understand these aspects of social life, utilizing both macrosociology; the study of widespread social processes and microsociology; the study of society at a interpersonal level. Symbolic Interactionism is a social psychological theory devised from the work of Charles Horton Cooley and George Herbert Mead that studies how individuals act within society (Symbolic Interactionism, no date). The premise of this theory is that individuals behave towards different situations based upon the meaning that the situation holds to them, from physical objects such as trees to institutions such as the government, referred to as symbols. As Symbolic Interactionism is a microsociological theory, the perspective focuses on how the meaning of these symbols to a individual is derived from the interpersonal, social interaction in society. Then through an interpretative process upon experiences, the meanings an individual holds towards symbols will change (Blumer, 1986). There are many examples where individuals find social meaning through symbolic interaction, one being that without symbolic interaction many people would not smoke; however meaning is constructed through the medi a or peer groups and people rationalise that albeit the consequences smoking hold, smoking is desirable. Another social psychological concept of Symbolic Interactionism is Charles Horton Cooleys looking-glass self (1902), which explores how identity is formed. Charles concept states that an individuals identity grows out of interpersonal interactions, and the perception of others. This leads individuals in society to shape themselves around other peoples perspectives and opinions of themselves. The looking-glass self has three main components; firstly imagining how we appear to others, secondly imagining the judgement from others of that appearance and thirdly developing our identity through these judgements (Rousseau, 2002). Functionalism on the other hand is a macrosociological theory which originated from the works of Émile Durkheim, Functionalism is also known as a consensus perspective theory as the perspective does not deal with the issue of social conflict but rather at looks at the ideal in society. Durkheims view on the functionalist perspective looks at the macro-level of social structure, the social institutions, as to explain how these contribute to the stability of society; the core institutions being: family, government, economy, media, education and religion. To a functionalist these social institutions are designed to fill the needs of society, thus shaping society, creating stability (Crossman, 2016). The functionalist perspective argues that institutions only exist to serve a role in how society functions, if the role is no longer needed the institution would not be needed either and if new needs arise in society, institutions will be created to address these roles. As touched upon, Symbolic Interactionism is a micro-sociological theory looking at the interpersonal level of society and Functionalism is a macro-sociological theory which looks at society on the structural level. The difference between the perspectives is vast due to this difference. Using religion as an example Émile Durkheim argued that religion encouraged individuals of society to follow the social norms which Functionalist theorists perceive as bringing about stability through institution (Emile Durkheim the sociology of religion, no date). However as Symbolic Interactionism focuses on the micro level of society, instead of looking at religion as a institution and how it causes people to adhere to social norms, Interactionism looks at the symbolic meaning behind religion. A symbolic interactionist would observe the meanings people attach to such things as religious symbols, like a cross or a mosque, to see how they affect individual behaviour in society (Symbolic Interacti onism, no date). However there are similarities between these perspectives,ÂÂ   despite the differences as to what level of society the perspectives focus on, both theories are similar in how they group individuals together, be it through social class for functionalism and through symbols for interactionism. Education in Britain has changed drastically since the 20th century. The Education Act was introduced in 1944 which guaranteed education for free, for every child in England and Wales. This act also divided the schools into what is the norm today, primary education and secondary education. Throughout the 20th Century, education in britain was a complete contrast to education in contemporary society, corporal punishment was widely used; whereas today the education system has different methods of punishment and students have rights which prevent corporal punishment such as caning. Education in contemporary britain has evolved to be inclusive of gender and those with special educational needs as through the 20th century women and special needs were discriminated against and regarded as unintelligent. Education in contemporary britain has also integrated the use of technology, with the vast majority of students having access to smartphones and the like within school (Reporters, 2014)l. E ducation is at the forefront of modern day society with 33% of students earning a degree in 2000 in contrast to 3.4% of students in 1950. (Bolton, no date) Both perspectives attempt to explain this aspect of social life in contemporary britain in contrasting ways, the Functionalist perspective focuses on the the functions performed by the education system. A functionalist may argue that Education creates Social Solidarity. Social Solidarity is when individuals feel as though they are integrated into something bigger than themselves. Durkheims belief when it comes to education was that the system is built upon the common beliefs of individuals in society, Durkheim believed the system to be a product of collective thought rather than individual thought, therefore making the education system a expression of the collective conscious which adapts over time as societys values change, uniting society with shared values, which is known as value consensus (Hoenisch, 1996). Talcott Parsons (1961), an american functionalist which expanded upon Durkheims writings in the 1950s and 1960s, expressed his view on the education system can be related to c ontemporary britain as being useful to provide a trained labour force as, this is useful to contemporary britain due to it being a advanced industrial economy, which needs a complex division of labour in order to sustain (Cook, 2008). Talcott Parsons (1961) also argued that the education system is the bridge between family and society as a whole for students, preparing for their role in later life after their initial primary socialisation; which is where individuals learn and develop throughout their younger years (Agnihotri, 2008). Parsons (1961) believed that in the family, as the parents understand the unique abilities of their child, the parents will judge the child to a particular set of standards they have come to expect, this is known as particularistic standards. However due to the education system, children learn that outside of the family individuals are judged by universalistic standards, which is where rules and laws apply to all people, regardless of the character of th e person, education teaches this. From a functionalist viewpoint, education in contemporary britain is used to assign roles to people in society through the use of examinations and qualifications. Education also introduces meritocracy, which is a equality of opportunity; every student has a chance to succeed (Thompson, 2015). An interactionists perspective however will focus on studies on interpersonal interaction within the school, such as in the classroom, in the lunch hall and on the playground. Studies show that teachers perception of students can affect the learning environment, A study carried out by Robert Rosenthal (1968)ÂÂ   and Lenore Jacobson (1968) focuses on a group of students throughout a school year, at the start of the school year the teachers where told which students where intelligent and which where unintelligent. The study showed at the end of the year that the students which the teachers had been informed where intelligent performed better throughout the year than the students deemed unintelligent, although the students where labelled to the teachers at random. A Interactionist will look at how due to the teachers having that knowledge inadvertently caused them to praise the intelligent students more often, and spend more time with them. Interactionists will also look at how Soc ial Interaction contributes to gender-role socialization, studies show that teachers praise males more often (Jones Dindia, 2004) Functionalism is useful in understanding how the education system is more work focused in contemporary society with increasing vocational courses. The perspective allows us to see how roles are allocated in society and how the education system brings around a value consensus in society. Its also useful in understanding how society teaches children what the universalistic standards are. However Functionalism tends to look at the macro elements of the education system rather than at the interpersonal level where functionalism can be criticized due to ignoring negatives such as bullying. It can also be criticised due to the fact the Marxist perspective argues education is not meritocratic due to the fact private schools only benefit the wealthy. Symbolic Interactionism on the other hand is useful in understanding the interpersonal relationships between parties such as the teacher and the student, allowing researchers to understand how individuals behavior shape society through observati ons and gathering qualitative data, understanding how society come to learn gender roles and how the labelling theory works as shown in the study aforementioned; a student being given more praise makes the student believe they are intelligent and therefore tries to fit that label, which is known in sociology as the self-fulfilling prophecy. According to Manis and Meltzer (1978) Symbolic Interactionism also makes it difficult to understand on a broad level the education system in contemporary society due to being limited to only micro-social structures and that the perspective neglects emotional conduct, focusing only on logical behaviour. Bolton, P. (no date) Commons Briefing papers SN04252. House of Commons.

Nutritious Eating Habits

1/ I think one of the social criticisms of marketing’s impacts on individual consumers is the price. Because of the expensive costs of developing such as â€Å"long lead times, the need to enlist the help of nutritional experts around the world, and the need to develop products that appeal to the local population’s tastes† (598) Vitango and Nutristar have high price that is out of reach of people in those poor target countries such as Botswana and Venezuela. Moreover, fortified products are also criticized for containing large amount of harmful substance such as fat and sugar that could lead to obesity.  For example, high consumption of Nutristar when combined with McDonald can cause health issues to its customers as those products contain a large amount of fat, sugar, salt and cholesterol. 2/ In my opinion, political power is a social criticism of marketing’s impacts on society. Big companies want to promote and protect their interests. As a result, they don’t want to lose profit if they offer the product at a reasonable price, so Coca Cola and P&G want to work with the governments for favorable tax and tariffs. However, either those companies are distrusted or those governments either cannot afford or don’t have sufficient resources to educate their people about fortified food, makes those companies seek for help from non-profit organizations such as GAIN to help lobby for lower tax rates and promote their products by giving those governments money to create more demands. Although fortified food is promoted to deal with deficient nutrient, they cannot completely stop malnutrition; as a result, they create false wants for people in those countries. Through non-profit organization, big companies educate target population about fortifies food and other beverage drinks, but not educating people about nutritious eating habits which is the real needs for those countries. Nutristar sold with McDonald’s happy meals does not help fight nutrition deficient, but it creates worse eating habit with fast food, which can lead to obesity or other health problem. 3/ Products such as Vitango and Nutristar are not considered enlightened marketing.  First, those products ignore societal marketing, they see societal problems such as starvation or political corruption in poor countries as opportunities to promote and sell their products. Instead of educating people in those countries about nutritious food, those companies try to promote their products’ benefits. Vitango and Nutristar are pleasing products which deals temporarily with nutrition deficiency; but in the long run, it can stop malnutrition. When customers depend on supplement products, their interests such as health are affected. In addition, many big companies place its mission in products and profits over broad social terms. In Vitango and Nutristar case; such fortified products is to create an image of the company in order to earn the market and increase profits by selling other products such as snack or juices in the future. 4/ In my opinion, the development and marketing of fortified products are unethical. As discussed above, the development and launching of fortified products are just a small part of a bigger marketing plan. First, those companies try to allure people in poor countries by helping them deal with nutrition deficiency with fortified products, but that is just the base to selling other products. Besides, through non-profit organizations, they educate those people about their products’ values rather than educate them about the need of nutritious eating habits. Secondly, through funding and lobbying with the local governments, those companies can have influence over the market and the governments that could lead to many serious problems in politic. 4/ In my opinion, in order to succeed with product such as Vitango, Coca Cola must consider many factors beside the price. First, in poor countries where malnutrition is a major concern, it must place societal missions ahead by helping non-profit organizations educate people about the needs of nutritious eating. Besides, they should educate people about fortified food as a supplement, not a substitute against nutrition deficiency. Last but not least, Coca Cola has to find a solution for the price problem; they have to adjust the price, so Vitango is purchasable in poor countries. When the product is accepted and well-know, the company can earn a lot of profits without conducting unethical actions. Another thought about the case, although Vitango and Nutristar are criticized because of many ethical issues, I think that is a trade-off. To satisfy stockholder’s expectations, those companies always have to find a way to maximize profits, and that profits have to be traded with some critics. From the corporate viewpoint, those critics may not cost the company a lot, so there is no reason they would not conduct such negligent actions.

Television Is A Central Form Of Communication - 1708 Words

How quickly can something capture the eye? What could take a person on an emotional roller coaster, from happiness, sadness, hunger, fatigue, or scared? The remarkable world of television can take a person anywhere. Television is a central form of communication which connects people with the outside world. The television has been around for decades and is found in practically every household. People watch the news, movies, game shows, or reality shows; there is a show for everyone, and, like it or not, there are plenty of advertisements. The creation of the television has been the beginning with no sign of an end, connecting people to the past, present, and future, while attributing to the positive and negative of American life today. Everything has a beginning. The creation of the television can be traced back to the 18th and 19th centuries. Prior to television the main means of communication, in growth order was the printing press, telegraph, radio, telephone and the television (El on.edu1). A key date is 1831 when Joseph Henry’s and Michael Faraday’s work with electromagnetism started the era of electronic communications. During 1880, inventors Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Edison theorized about telephone devices that transmit images as well as sound. Bell’s Photophone used light to transmit sound and he wanted to advance his device for image sending (Bellis1). Before the television films were born beginning in 1887, Thomas Edison patents the motion picture camera andShow MoreRelatedpros and cons to having a purely cellular network vs. having a purely fixed line network1557 Words   |  7 Pagescompanys central office to the subscribers premise and another pair of twisted copper wires that run back to the telephone companys Central Office1 b. 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Health Care Issues Of The United States Universal...

Outline I. Introduction A. Hook The best chance of survival is having food and shelter to come back to every night after a long day full of workloads and stress. B. Thesis Health care is a basic human right every citizen in the United States should receive and be granted no matter the circumstance. II. Points A. Article #1 - Health Care Legislation 1. Before Obama signed the PPACA into law, insurance companies held most of the power over policyholders. 2. When Obama took office, he vowed to fight against insurance companies to make sure every American had access to fair health care; as a result, the PPACA was created. 3. Obama also wanted to make sure health care was affordable and that money invested in health care was spent wisely and not just pocketed by insurance companies. B. Article #2 - Health Care Issues 1. The United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights lists medical care among the basic human rights to which all people are entitled. 2. 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