Symbolic Interactionism
The objective of this study is to contrast and compare the work of Simmel and Mead on Symbolic Interactionism. Toward this end, a review of literature in this area of inquiry will be conducted.

Symbolic interactionism is a primary sociological perspective that George Herbert Mead advanced through bringing "rigorous substance to this emergent micro-level analysis." (loch, nd) From the view of symbolic interactionism, "society is the sum total of the countless daily interactions that people engage in." (loch, nd) Symbols are reported to be differentiated from signs "in that a sign is something that stands for itself." (loch, nd)

The Approach of Mead

The approach of Mead to symbolic interactionism is such that was developed through "synthesis of other schools of thought" including pragmatism which view the social world as a growing and developing creation that in order to be understood must be observed both systematically and scientifically. From this view, "truth…...

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Bibliography

Allan (2004) The Individual in Modern Society. Retrieved from:  http://www.sagepub.com/upm-data/13635_Chapter4.pdf 

Bloch, JP (2013) Mead and Symbolic Interactionism. Retrieved from: http://home.southernct.edu/~blochj1/mead1.html

Farganis J (2000) Readings in Social Theory: The Classic Tradition to Post-Modernism, 3d ed. New York: McGraw Hill. Retrieved from: http://www.bolenderinitiatives.com/sociology/georg-simmel-1858-1918/georg-simmel-dialectic-individual-and-society

Ritzer, G. (2013) Classical Theories of Everyday Life. Contemporary Sociological Theory and Its Classical Roots: The Basics. Retrieved from:  http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/007234962x/student_view0/chapter3/chapter_overview.html

Herbert Blumer, having coined the term Symbolic Interactionism, is the person who was instrumental in the development of the Symbolic Interactionism perspective. Blumer was a student of George Herbert Mead. More than writing, publishing, and popularizing Mead's ideas, Blumer built on Mead's ideas and further developed. He believed and theorized that "there was more to human behavior than influences on it by outside forces or uncontrollable psychological factors" (Bandy, Foley, Hatch, Sirle and Snook). Blumer recognized the three basic principles of Symbolic Interactionism which are meaning, language, and thought.

According to Bandy, Foley, Hatch, Sirle and Snook, it was Erving Goffman who expanded the sphere of Symbolic Interactionism. Through his work on the dramaturgical perspective helped expand the realm of Symbolic Interactionism. Erving Goffman's work on the dramaturgical perspective started with the belief that "people seem to follow scripts and play games in interaction" (Canfield). Goffman also stretched Mead's concept of…...

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References

Bandy, Rachel, Foley, Allison, Hatch, Ali, Sirles, Katy, and Snook, Jennifer. Symbolic Interactionism. April 2003. University of Colorado, Boulder. 3 April 2009. .

Bartle, Phil. Max Weber. 8 February 2007. Seattle Community Network. 3 April 2009.

Canfield, Allan. Symbolic Interaction and Nonverbal Communication Making Sense of Symbolic Interaction. 3 April 2009. .

Symbolic Interactionism
Healthcare sociological theory

Symbolic interaction theory: Healthcare (Obesity prevention)

Symbolic interaction theory "focuses attention on the way that people interact through symbols: words, gestures, rules, and roles" (Plunkett n.d.). The definition of health is an important component of the cultural language in which we operate. Although our definition of health sometimes seems self-evident, like something unchanging and unwavering across the eras, it is a culturally-constructed notion. This can be seen in how the definition of acceptable body weight that has shifted and changed and the symbolic importance given to weight. Today, being overweight is not simply considered a problem of aesthetics but also a health problem with social consequences. Being overweight is seen as 'costing' the health system -- and thus taxpayer's money -- as well as taxing one's heart.

"Extrapolating from self-reported and measured data collected over time, it is estimated that the rate of obesity among adults in Canada in…...

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References

Branswell, Helen. (2012). Canadian doctors launch anti-obesity campaign. City TV. Retrieved:

 http://www.citytv.com/toronto/citynews/life/health/article/232492 

Marci, M.G., John, H.H., & Lisa, A.H. (2006). The portrayal of overweight in adolescent fiction. Reclaiming Children and Youth, 15(2), 116-123.

Obesity in Canada -- snapshot. (2012). Public Health Agency of Canada. Retrieved:

Within this sidewalk culture, patterns of interaction emerge. An example would be Hasan's role not only as a vendor, but also as a conversationalist for his customers, discussing topics that pertain to or about the merchandise that he sells, which are second-hand books.
A second feature that reflects symbolic interactionism in sidewalk culture as determined by the author is the assignment of specific roles by its members, and this is illustrated in the story of Alice, the tradebooks and popular pocketbooks vendor, and Hasan, the "black books" seller. oth are book vendors, yet, in the sidewalk culture, Hasan maintains a more personal relationship with his customers, letting their business transaction go beyond the purchase of books to discussing issues that his customers may deem important for them to discuss with him (Hasan).

Sidewalk" assumes a symbolic interactionist perspective through its third feature, which is the temporariness of the sidewalk culture itself.…...

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Bibliography

Duneier, M. (2000). Sidewalk. NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

When meanings are shared, they are concordant. However since people may assign different meanings to the same entity, a disconnect can occur that can result in deviant behaviors.
Principle 2: Language

Language is, of course, at the core of communication, as well as miscommunication. In symbolic interactionism, language acts as a navigation tool that guides individuals through the often meandering conduit of meaning, using language to identify symbolic representation.

Principle 3: Thought

Thought is what allows individuals to go beyond the assignment and identification of symbols, and delve into the process of analysis. It is via thought that the meaning of symbols is modified in accordance with the reconstruction of self that tends to result from personal reflection.

Ultimately, symbolic interactionism uses each of these principles to explain human behavior, self-constructs and socialization in such a way that social problems become products of actions based on self-perceptions. Thus this theory seems to be applicable…...

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References

Blumer, H. (1969). Symbolic interactionism: Perspective and method. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

The Society for More Creative Speech (1996) Symbolic Interactionism as defined by Herbert Blumer, Retrieved from  http://www.cdharris.net/text/blumer.html

Theoretical Treatments of Symbolic Interactionism
In order to develop a deeper understanding of sociological theories designed to describe the complexities of the cognitive process, it is essential to identify tangible examples of these as they are manifested in the real world. The concept of symbolic interactionism, while carrying varying connotations depending on the distinct school of sociological thought one embraces, is generally agreed to describe the empirical analysis of three simple premises, "that human beings act toward things on the basis of the meanings that the things have for them & #8230; that the meaning of such things is derived from, or arises out of, the social interaction that one has with his environment & #8230; (and) that these meanings are handled in, and modified through, an interpretive process used by the person in dealing with the things he encounters" (Blumer, 1986). hile this technical definition is sufficient in relating…...

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Works Cited

Blumer, H. (1986). Symbolic interactionism: Perspective and method. University of California

Press

Dixon, T.L., & Linz, D. (2000). Overrepresentation and underrepresentation of African

Americans and Latinos as lawbreakers on television news. Journal of communication, 50(2), 131-154.

Sociology Waitress
Functionalism

Serving customers food and drinks is a fundamental function in restaurant operations. However, serving customers food and drinks constitutes the manifest function of a waitress. The manifest functions of the restaurant itself include feeding people and making a profit for its owner. The restaurant's latent functions include promoting the brand identity of its celebrity chef, and contributing to the quality of life in the community. Latent functions of a waitress depend on the restaurant and its organizational culture and mission. In this case, the latent function of the waitress is to preserve the restaurant's brand identity by maintaining a professional appearance and demeanor at all times. The waitress is like an advertisement for the restaurant, ensuring that the customers will return and spread the word to friends.

The functionalist views the job of server in a high quality restaurant as being integral to the working of the whole system. From…...

By developing conceptual poetics, he was able to channel his need to make sense of all the information he encounters in his life, even going so far as to include his own body and generate information about it by taking note of his body movements every hour (resulting to the literary work Fidget).
Interestingly, Goldsmith and his conceptual poetics has successfully drawn the readers' attention from the cultural material to the act of using the cultural material itself -- that is, moving the focus from the cultural material to the user. By manipulating existing written works and recreating these works in his own way, e.g., retyping printed texts, Goldsmith makes his readers realize that magazine-reading is a routine task or activity that can be creatively reinvented, simply by using the magazine in a different way. In his case, he retyped the text, possibly exploring changes in the meaning of the…...

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References

Goldsmith, K. Being Boring. Available at http://wings.buffalo.edu/epc/authors/goldsmith.

____. Fidget. Available at http://www.stadiumweb.com/fidget.

____. Uncreativity as Creative Practice. Available at http://wings.buffalo.edu/epc/authors/goldsmith.

Renzetti, C. And D. Curran. 2000. Living Sociology. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Sociology
Symbolic interactionism is the theory suggesting human beings are best understood in "interactive relation to their environment," (University of Twente, 2014). The three core principles of symbolic interactionism including meaning, language, and thought. Meaning refers to the fact that people ascribe meaning to their relationships, institutions, and other social structures. This meaning is what guides human emotion and cognition. Language is the symbolic type of human communication. Like meaning, language also impacts human emotional and cognitive states. Thus, the third component of symbolic interactionism is thought. How a person perceives, judges, and interacts with the world is covered by symbolic interactionism. Symbolic interactionism also suggests that the self is a mirror for others, and vice-versa in what is known as the "looking glass self," ("The Symbolic Interactionist Perspective," n.d.). Symbolic interactionism is an ideal sociological lens through which to understand how social media has transformed the nature of human relationships…...

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References

Fernback, J. (2007). Beyond the diluted community concept. New Media and Society 9(1), 49-69.

Satell, G. (2014). If you doubt that social media has changed the world, take a look at Ukraine. Forbes. Retrieved online:  http://www.forbes.com/sites/gregsatell/2014/01/18/if-you-doubt-that-social-media-has-changed-the-world-take-a-look-at-ukraine/ 

"The Symbolic Interactionist Perspective," (n.d.). Retrieved online: https://www.boundless.com/sociology/textbooks/boundless-sociology-textbook/sociology-1/the-theoretical-perspectives-in-sociology-24/the-symbolic-interactionist-perspective-157-3185/

University of Twente (2014). Symbolic interactionism.

Town in Turmoil
A Town in Conflict

Every story can be told a number of different ways. Each person in a given narrative understands what went on from a particular perspective. Sometimes, if that person is especially perspicacious and especially curious, then she or he can see a particular event from the perspective or one or two other people. But the individual's perspective is always limited, and this is a good thing. If we cannot see the world from our own point-of-view then we have no hope of understanding our own virtues and vices, our own sense of cause and effect.

But it is also true that there is an important place in the world for understanding an event from a larger perspective. This is the role (or, at least, one of the roles) that scholarship plays in our lives. Scholarship provides that larger lens, that broader focus on the world that…...

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References

A town in turmoil. (2007).  http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1811248 .

Holmwood, J. (2005) Functionalism and its Critics in A. Harrington, A., (Ed.) Modern social theory: An introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Macionis, J.J. (2011). Society. (7th ed.). Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall.

AbstractThis dissertation explores the effectiveness of public administration in evaluating life quality and standards across different states, utilizing specifically on qualitative methodologies. The crux of this study is predicated on the principle that effective and accountable public administration plays a crucial role in delivering essential services and shaping societal well-being. Through a semi-structured interview approach, the research examines the intricate processes and decision-making mechanisms within public administration in states with varying population sizes, geographic locations, economic capabilities, and governance structures. This approach is designed to provide a nuanced understanding of the ways in which these factors may impact policy formulation and implementation. Data collection is conducted through virtual interviews with public administrators, public service users, and stakeholders, as well as document analysis. This allows for a rich, contextual exploration into the real-world experiences and perspectives of those at the forefront of public administration. Data analysis leverages thematic coding and content…...

Breaching Experiment
A Game of Twister Played at Macy's Department Store

Brief Description of the Breaching Experiment

My daughter, Kayley, who is fourteen and one of her friends, Dani, with her mother's permission, participated in a brief experiment. The experiment was to play the popular game "Twister" in a social setting that would be extremely uncommon for something like that to occur. The three of us took the game to the mall and looked for a spot in which we could play. We asked a few people to participate in the game as the game's "spinner" however each person that was asked refused to participate. Eventually we chose the department store Macy's to play the game.

When playing the game there were several odd looks that were cast in our direction; one lady shook her head in what appeared to be disgust. Shortly after the game began, a store employee promptly demanded that were…...

Sociology Debate: A central debate in sociology revolves around whether the power elite or pluralist view is correct. Which do you believe and why? Explain your answer.
The Power Elite view seeks to look at the way the elites rule and influence the running of the American society as a whole in the day-to-day basis. One scholar in sociology, Smith Mark (2009) in his analysis of C. Wrights work, tries to explain the rule of the elite in terms of institution that are formed to ensure the elite has a firm hand on the power controls. He identifies three main institutions that occupy the key positions in the society; major business corporations, the federal government and the military. He says that those in command of the three institutions do and will always have the same values and interest. They coalesce and interconnect to form a single ruling minority.

Among these elites there…...

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References

Don Albrecht et.al (2005). Minority Concentration, Disadvantage, and Inequality in the Nonmetropolitan United States. Midwest Sociological Quarterly, 46:503

Impact Lab (2009). The 10 people most responsible for the Recession. Retrieved April 7, 2011

from  http://www.impactlab.net/2009/02/17/the-10-people-most-responsible-for-the-recession/ 

Justin Lahart, (2010). Job Losses Continue, ADP Surveys Suggest. Retrieved April 7, 2011 from  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126278421347117805.html

Gallant, J. (2016). Alleged sex abuse victim's fight for justice turns into bureaucratic nightmare. Toronto Star. 2 Dec, 2016. Retrieved online: https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2016/12/02/alleged-sex-abuse-victims-fight-for-justice-turns-into-bureaucratic-nightmare.html
In this article, Gallant (2016) describes the ongoing legal battle between Sveta Kholi and her former neurologist, Paul O'Connor. Kholi has accused O'Connor of sexual abuse. After the complaint was lodged formally, a complex bureaucratic process ensued whereby the entire case appears to have been stalemated. The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario has a committee that formally handles complaints, and the Health Professions Appeal and Review Board (HPARB) is a civilian body that hears appeals specifically from that very same College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario.

However, the bureaucratic complications become even trickier. According to the journalist, the College of Physicians and Surgeons also has an Inquiries, Complaints and Reports Committee. The HPARB has ordered on two separate occasions for the Inquiries, Complaints, and Reports Committee to…...

subordination of labor" a necessary condition for establishing an employment relationship? Are there other necessary conditions?
The capitalist take-over of production was at first merely formal. Capitalists took control of production methods via ownership and employed workers in their privately owned factories. Workers agreed to labor for the owners, because they believed that this was a more financially and socially beneficial relationship than working for their own farms, on their own privately owned land. The formal subordination of labor to capital thus is necessary in a situation of private enterprise, where labor can be rented cheaply to work on preexisting property owned by capitalists.

Why is the "real subordination of labor" described as a fundamental aspect of management? How does the unique nature of the human factor make this form of subordination problematic?

It is only later, in part under the pressure of workers' struggles, when capitalists begin to invest heavily in…...

One recent news story in Canada that could be analyzed sociologically using concepts or theories is the controversy surrounding the recent discovery of unmarked graves at former residential school sites. This news has brought to light the long-standing issue of systemic racism and cultural genocide against Indigenous peoples in Canada.

In analyzing this news story, one could apply sociological concepts such as structural functionalism, conflict theory, or postcolonial theory to understand the historical and ongoing impacts of colonialism on Indigenous communities. One could also examine the role of power and privilege in perpetuating inequality and marginalization of Indigenous peoples within Canadian....