Part 1: While George Herbert Meade originally came up with the concept of Symbolic Interactionalism, it was Herbert Bloomer who coined the term and summarized it in two points ("Symbolic Interaction", n.p.). These two points are as follows:
1. people act toward things based on the meaning those things have for them, and
2. these meanings are derived from social interaction and modified through interpretation ("Symbolic Interaction", n.p.).
This theoretical perspective has helped me to consider the how of why people attach meanings to what they do. It is easy to struggle to understand why someone attaches so much importance to something that I find unimportant. For instance, some people will spend huge amounts of money to get VIP passes to their favorite band, while others will spend thousands to go to the Super Bowl. This indicates a difference between the social interactions each person has had. Each of them acted towards what has a high meaning for them by spending money on it. Each of them had something different they placed meaning on that as born out of social interactions with parents and peers. Because I now know about Symbolic Interactionism, I can look at the behavior of each one of these people and understand it better.
Understanding Symbolic Interactionism has helped me to be more empathetic to those around me. Using the example above, I personally would have never understood why someone placed such an importance on the Super Bowl while I could understand spending money on a concert. This is because I did not grow up in a home that valued sports, and I did not socialize with people who do either. On the other hand, I grew up seeing live performances and grew into going to concerts with friends, so I would naturally place a higher meaning on seeing a beloved music artist.
Symbolic Interactionalism helps to explain why someone can go from a stellar student to a mediocre one depending on who they socialize with. It also helps to explain drug usage and drinking on a social level. It is more important to have a drink at the club with friends because of the social ideals in a club, while drinking in the student library would be unacceptable.
Part 2:
The concept of “The Looking-Glass Self” has enlarged my view of the social world because it has helped me consider people and their behaviors from a different point of view. Learning about this concept has helped me to better understand why generational poverty exists. It indicates a person grows out of social interactions and lives up to the ideas they think others have of them (Isaksen, n.p.). If a person grows out of social interaction, and those social interactions are all with low income people who have no hope, that person will take on the qualities of a low income person with no hope and therefore not try to better themselves. Conversely, many middle class kids go to college based upon the expectations placed upon them despite the serious debt they will incur and the fact a trade school education may be more beneficial to them. Both of the children produced from these different environments are simply reacting to their lifetime of social interactions. By understanding the Looking-Glass Self, I can evaluate those around me and their individual situations’ in order to better understand their behavior. This kind of insight can help in both personal and work, as I can figure out how best to motivate others.
Institutional Discrimination is a hot button topic right now, with the various police shootings and Black Lives Matter movement happening before us. Institutional discrimination is where one group discriminates against another for their own gain ("Institutional Discrimination: The Case Of Redlining", n.p.). The reality of institutional discrimination is one that has existed in the United States since the introduction of African slaves. Since then it has taken many names; indentured servitude, the draft, Jim Crow laws and now it is unequal treatment of minorities within the justice system. Reading about institutional discrimination has helped me to better understand the issues facing minorities as well as some of the motivations behind continued discrimination.
The Matthew Effect is the idea that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer ("Matthew Effect", n.p.). This can be applied to many topics. For instance, the widening educational gaps between the gifted and children who struggle is also a concept from the Matthew Effect. Gifted children are often given the choice of going ahead of their level or not, while slower children feel stuck. I knew someone with a reading comprehensive issue no one found until got to college; he was from a poor family and a great sports player and they assumed he was just not very smart; the allowed themselves to adhere to the idea of the Matthew Effect and missed the wonderful mind beneath. This effect also happens as a result of discrimination and the looking glass self.
Conclusion
Understanding sociological concepts adds to a deeper understanding of the world around us. Although just a few concepts and theories were mentioned, there is a myriad of others, all of which are important for understanding people and societies. From understanding why people place importance on different items, to why poor remain poor and rich remain rich, sociological concepts have an explanation. Understanding the why’s can often help us to figure out how best to change unsavory aspects of ourselves, and our society.
Works Cited
"Institutional Discrimination: The Case Of Redlining". @TheSocyCinema. N.p., 2016. Web. 1 May 2016.
Isaksen,. "The Looking Glass Self". POPULAR SOCIAL SCIENCE. N.p., 2013. Web. 1 May 2016.
"Matthew Effect". Reading Rockets. N.p., 2016. Web. 1 May 2016.
"Symbolic Interaction". Sites.google.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 1 May 2016.
