1. SOURCES AND DIFFERENT
CONCEPTIONS OF THE SELF, IDENTITY
AND DIFFERENCE

2. Symbolic Interactionism –
Meads Theory
Mead is usually
seen as the founder
of symbolic
interactionism.

3. SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM
 Symbolic interactionists emphasise the ways in
which society is actively shaped by individuals
and the meanings they attach to ‘everyday
things’.
 Symbolic interactionism is usually regarded as a
social action theory.

4. MEAD
He argued that humans interact through the use of symbols such as
Visual signs
(red traffic light
= stop)
Expressions
Visual gestures
(frown = angry)
(waving = hello)
Sounds (siren =
emergency)
Verbal (scream
= fear)
Shared understanding of these symbols and how to respond to them form
the basis of communication.
Whilst we are each conscious individuals, the way in which we choose to
behave is influenced by the social context of that behaviour.

5. THE ‘I’ AND THE ‘ME’
 G. H. Mead (1934) described our awareness of how
others see us. The ‘I’ is the spontaneous side of our
personality which would like to act freely, but we are
aware of the way ‘generalised others’ of our society
view us and expect us to behave and this more
inhibiting self concept seen through the eyes of
others is termed the ‘me’.

6. C.H.COOLEY - ‘LOOKING GLASS SELF’
 Cooley (1922) aptly called
theme side of our self the
‘looking glass self’, referring
to how, after a while, we begin
to view ourselves as if others’
eyes are a mirror.

7. How does it link to symbolic interactionism
Symbolic interactionism: A sociological perspective on self
and society based on the ideas of George Mead (1934). The
central theme of symbolic interactionism is that human life is
based on the use of symbols. Through language and
communication, symbols provide the means by which reality
is constructed.
Mead’s work: Human behaviour is social because people
interact in terms of symbols. Symbols stand for other objects
and imply certain behaviour. For example; The ‘ no entry’
symbol implies to the majority of people that they cannot
enter. Therefore Mead’s work is credible that we follow
symbols, however as the majority follow this rule, does this
show there must be some sort of collective norms and values?
Can we really say that reality being so complex comes down
to simply the use of symbols? However, Mead’s work is
accurate that we do associates symbols with meanings.

8. HOW USEFUL IS MEAD’S THEORY TO AN
UNDERSTANDING OF SOCIETY?
 Although Mead’s theory is over 70 years old,
humans do relate the meanings of symbols
to what they do, i.e at a red traffic light, the
majority of people would stop. Therefore,
Mead is correct to an extent.
 However, Mead states that we as individuals
shape society, but for the majority to abide
by the symbols, rules and regulations there
must be some sort of collective conscience,
norms and values.
 In order to have shared meanings, it must
feed off some sort of structural factors.

9. LABELLING THEORY
 Perhaps the most well known application of symbolic
interactionism is labelling theory. Developed initially
by H Becker it has been used widely in Education and
Deviance.
 We all label people and objects
 Those with power are able to label someone, and
make others accept that label
 Labelling of humans can lead to a self-fulfilling
prophecy
 If the label is especially damaging, it can become a
master status

10. EVALUATION OF SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM
 It over-emphasises the significance of the
individual. There tends to be little conception of
social structures.
 It cannot explain power relationships in society in
the way that Marxists or feminists have. It does not
explain why some individuals / social groups are
more powerful than others.
 It concentrates too much on small-scale, trivial
aspects of social life, therefore ignoring the much
bigger picture of life at a society-wide level of
analysis.

11. EVALUATION
 It believes that nearly everything is socially
constructed – so logically one could argue that
sociology is itself a social construct, and therefore
useless?
 It fails to explain social order and social change.
 Ethnomethodologists(focus on how people make
sense of their world) believe it fails to explain how
actors create meanings
 Reynolds (1975) found evidence that interactionists
ignore power and class as being important concepts
of interactionism.

12. ERVING GOFFMAN
 Goffman saw the social world as being
rather like a drama, or a performance in a
play.
 His work is therefore referred to as a
dramaturgical
approach.

13. ERVING GOFFMAN
 Individuals put on a performance for others to
convince them about who they are.
 Like an actor, they have to believe in the role in
order to be convincing. In the process they may
become the person they are trying to project an
image of.

14. ERVING GOFFMAN
 Goffman describes this process as The
Presentation of Self in Everyday Life (1959) –
through presenting him- or herself in particular roles
the individual develops identities.

15. ERVING GOFFMAN
 Goffman admits that
the roles available for
us to adopt are not
unlimited and that
individuals are
therefore constrained
by the range of social
roles available in a
particular society at a
particular time.

16. GOFFMAN’S (1961) STUDY
 Read his study on page 23 in your textbook.
Explain his study in detail, ensuring you define the
key concepts such as ‘mortification’, ‘total
institutions’ and ‘institutionalised’.
 How can this study be used to support Goffman’s
dramaturgical theory?
 How can this be used to challenge the idea of a
self-fulfulling prophecy?

17. EVALUATION
 How may sociologists criticise Goffman’s theory?

18. SIGMUND FREUD
 Freud was the founder of
psychoanalysis.
 He argued that people possess an
unconscious mind which contains
repressed feelings and desires
which they are not aware of.

19. SIGMUND FREUD
 Many of these are concerned
with pleasure-seeking and
sexuality.
 To develop into a
psychologically well-balanced
adult, the child needs to learn
to control these desires, and
to identify with the same-sex
parent.
 For Freud, childhood
experiences were vital for the
development of identities in
adulthood.

20. SIGMUND FREUD
 This relates to identity as it suggests that we bring
childhood experiences, even those about which we
are not conscious of, to the decisions we make as
adults.
 Identity positions we adopt may be the result of
unconscious feelings.
 Both gender and sexuality are important to our
understanding of identity. Our sense of who we are
is most significantly linked to our awareness of our
identities as women and men.

21. EVALUATIONS???
 How may sociologists criticise Freudian
explanations of identity?
 What part of his theory may sociologists agree
with?