Pages 39-44

Chapter 2Interpreting Social Problems: Aging

Symbolic Interactionism

Symbolic Interactionism

The sociological theory that focuses on how we make sense out of life is called symbolic interactionism. We see the world through

symbols, things to which we attach meaning and that we use to communicate with one another

SI studies how symbols give us our view of the world and how we use them to communicate

Our views of life include what we consider to be social problems

What are symbols?Describe someone who is advanced

in age, or an “old person”.

What are symbols?Describe this car and the person

who owns it.

What are symbols?Describe this woman.

What are symbols? Symbols:

Images on television Movies Printed and spoken

word Body language Gestures Tone of voice Clothing Hair styles

Symbols Today

In 1970 Robin Williams identified core American values:• Equal Opportunity• Achievement and Success• Material Comfort• Activity and Work• Practicality and Efficiency• Progress• Science• Democracy and Enterprise• Freedom From Macionis, John J. 2005. Sociology. 10th ed. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall. p. 66.

Why is J.Lo sosuccessful?

Find an image of a celebritythat you like…

• How is your celebrity different or similar to J.Lo? • What does this image of a celebrity tell us about how

we should live our lives, how we should look and behave?

• Do you think you should strive to be like celebrities? (both in terms of looks and lifestyle)? Why or why not?

Symbols Change

“Old” used to mean wisdom, generosity, graciousness, and beauty The elderly were admired

for their accomplishments and accumulated knowledge.

As society advanced in public heath and medicine, many people reached old age and the elderly were no longer distinct

Symbols Change With machinery and mass

production, work was becoming “deskilled” Younger workers became just

as knowledgeable and productive as the older ones

As the elderly lost the uniqueness that had brought them respect, their social value declined “old” begins to mean

uselessness, foolishness, and no longer looked up to

Symbols Change

Because symbols change, so do social problems When only a few people made

it to old age, it was a personal problem, not a social problem

Today, with so many people reaching old age, we perceive elderly people as a group Social action is appropriate

for solving their problems

Development of Symbolic Interactionism How we symbolize our self and others influences

our behavior. All of us make choices on the basis of what we

think fits our self-images George Herbert Mead focused on the role of

symbols in social life Symbols allow us to have goals, to plan, to

evaluate, and to develop our self-concept Symbols allow us to take the roles of others

and put ourselves in their shoes Mead called this action of taking the role of

other people in general the generalized other

Development of Symbolic Interactionism Charles Horton Cooley

analyzed how the self develops through interactions with others people come to view

themselves as they think others perceive them

Our interactions with others create a looking-glass self

Development of Symbolic Interactionism Our self has 3 elements:

How we imagine we appear to others

How we think others feel about what they perceive

How we feel about this reflected image

Our self-esteem depends on our looking-glass self

If a society reflects negative images to its old people, the elderly tend to think of themselves negatively

Development of Symbolic Interactionism Peter Berger and Thomas

Luckmann developed the concept of the social construction of reality When things happen to us we have

to figure out what they mean Based on what we think they mean,

we respond with a reaction As we go through life we

continuously make sense out of what happens to us

Another way of saying this is that eachof us is involved in the social

construction of reality.

Development of Symbolic Interactionism Reality does not come with

built-in meanings, but, we construct our realities as we apply symbol to our experiences

Ex: When is someone considered old? Why?

Because not all cultures have the same symbols, the construction of reality changes from culture to culture

A Japanese soldier who losesa battle and falls on his sword,

symbol of honor and duty explainhis actions.

A suicide in America does nothave the same symbols that

explain the action. Symbols arethat it is the family’s responsibilityto prevent the suicide which leads

to guilt. In both cases, the survivors areusing the symbols their culture

provides to socially construct reality. The reality is different because thecultures provide different symbols.

Classwork/Homework

Read page 45

Write a one page response

Applying Symbolic Interactionism to Social Problems Social problems are socially

constructed.

social problems do not exist until some condition of society is called a social problem

The fact that there are elderly people does not mean that there is a social problem

the status of the elderly depends on how the elderly are viewed or labeled

Because social problems are socially constructed, what is considered a social problem changes over time

Applying Symbolic Interactionism to Social Problems Symbolic interactionists

stress the significance of labeling people categorize

everything Ex: the label of “old age”

is sometimes used to explain health problems

Labels affect how we perceive and react to social problems