Credits, references, and bibliography

The Conceptual Contributions of Charles Horton Cooley (see also and DSS)

1. Looking-Glass Self (see also and DSS or local)
• 3 stage process: Imagine and prepare, Present and imagine response, Modify based on interpretation.
• Imagination and Interpretation.
• Need "they" to be "I"
• See lecture notes on "Labeling Theory."
2. Primary Group (see DSS or local and original)
• Small, intimate, and long-term
• Emotional depth and interaction based on a variety of statuses
• Basic element of socialization
• Critical part of connection between individual and wider society
3. Sympathetic Introspection (local)
   • Putting oneself in the position of those being studied
   • Participant observation
   • "Becoming the phenomenon"

Robert E. Park (see also DSS)

• Real world focus: urban ethnography
• Ideas and contributions

Central Assumptions and Principles of Symbolic Interactionism

1. People act towards things (including other people) based on the meanings attached to these things (or people)
2. Meaning arises out of interaction with others.
3. People not only internalize meanings, but the modify, alter, and create meaning through interpretive processes
4. People are unique in their ability to use symbols (as opposed to other animals)
5. Becoming "human" is a process involving social interaction
6. People are conscious of themselves in interaction, reflecting on what they do and how they are seen,and are capable of modifying their behavior
7. People are intentional, purposive--they define situations, assign meaning, and act based on this interpretational process.
8. Society is people interacting with one another--an ongoing process.
9. Research (rather than abstract theory)
   • Fieldwork
   • Observation

Symbolic Interactionism

"Following Mead, symbolic interactionists believe that the task of sociology is to study the ways in which interaction, and the symbols involved in it, shape selves and social life.  Charles Horton Cooley (1864-1929) introduced the idea of the looking-glass self.  He argued that we use other people as "mirrors" to determine whether we are in fact the kind of selves that we believe ourselves to be.  Intimate face-to-face groups that Cooley called primary groups are very important to the development of self.  These provide a link between the individual and the social by instilling group values in the self.  Cooley also introduced the methodological idea of sympathetic introspection to argue that, in order to understand the operation of mental processes, sociologists needed to place themselves in the minds of those being studied.  Robert Park (1864-1944) further developed this technique by promoting the method of fieldwork.  In fieldwork, the sociologist goes into the field to observe people in their everyday activities."(1)

Dramaturgy

Weblinks

Biography of Robert E. Park: http://www.asanet.org/about/presidents/Robert_Park.cfm (American Sociological Association site on Park and his work).

Biography of Charles Horton Cooley:http://media.pfeiffer.edu/lridener/DSS/Cooley/LKGLSSLF.HTML

Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction: https://sites.google.com/site/sssinteraction/

1. Much of this page comes from the "Instructor's Manual" to accompany Contemporary Sociological Theory and Its Classical Roots: The Basics, Second Edition, George Ritzer, Mcgraw-Hill, 2007. The Instructor's Manual was prepared by James Murphy, University of Maryland, College Park and Todd Stillman, Fayetteville State University. These excerpts are from chapter 6.
2. Ritzer, George. 2007/2010/2013. Contemporary Sociological Theory and Its Classical Roots: The Basics. 2nd/3rd/4th editions. St. Louis: McGraw-Hill

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