Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Pages: 296
•
Trim: 6 x 9
978-1-5381-0108-7 • Paperback • September 2019 • $99.00 • (£76.00)
David Rohall is the Department Head and Professor of Sociology at Missouri State University. His research emphasizes the application of symbolic interactionist principles to any number of topics including self-esteem, identity, and mental health. His previous works include, Social Psychology: Sociological Perspectives, 3rd Edition (2014) and Inclusion in the American Military: A Force for Diversity (2017).
Preface
1 The Social Construction of Reality
This Book Isn’t Real!
Basic Principles
Everything Is Not Relative!
A Situational Approach
The Construction of Society
The Individual in Society
Cognitive Sociology
Two Schools of Symbolic Interaction
Chapter Conclusion
2 Studying Symbolic Interaction
Quantitative versus Qualitative Methods
Verstehen Power
Exploration and Inspection
Studying Situations
Ethnography
Types of Ethnography
Narrative Analysis
Ethnomethodology and Natural Experiments
Unobtrusive Research
Going into the Field
Project Planning
Sampling
Ethical Issues
Chapter Conclusion
3 Constructing Culture
Elements of Culture
Statuses, Roles, and Norms
Values and Beliefs
American Culture
American Values and Beliefs
American Ideal-Type Personalities
Baudrillard’s America
Creating Cultures
Subcultures and Idiocultures
Global Culture?
Cultural Change
Chapter Conclusion
4 Self and Society
The I, the Me, and the Self
Situational Selves
Self-Narratives and Possible Selves
Identity Theories
Identity Theory
Social Identity Theory
Dramaturgy
Front Stage/Backstage
Impressions Given/Impressions Given Off
Chapter Conclusion
5 Socialization
Cognitive Socialization
Symbols and Language
Stages of Socialization
Agents of Socialization
Family
Peers
Schools
Media and Self-Socialization
The Sociology of Childhood
Socialization over the Life Course
Our Role in History
Life Stages: Presocialization to Adult Socialization
Chapter Conclusion
6 Emotions, Relationships, and Society
Contextualizing Emotions
Dramaturgy and Emotions
Emotional Scripts
Emotional Socialization
Relationships, Community, and Society
Attraction: Starting a Relationship
The Socioemotional Economy
Community Relations
Chapter Conclusion
7 Deviance and Mental Health
Defining Normal
Levels of Deviance
Creating Deviance
Moral Entrepreneurs
Labeling and De-Labeling
Primary and Secondary Deviance
Deviant Subcultures
Deviance over the Life Course
The Myth of Mental Illness
Chapter Conclusion
8 Doing Inequality
Status Everywhere!
Doing Difference
Doing Gender
Intersectionality
Pride and Prejudice
Categorizing Self and Other
Borderwork
Chapter Conclusion
9 Institutional Life
The Nature of Social Institutions
Institutional Types
All in the Family
Work and Occupations: The Economy
Education
Religion and Politics
Institutional Intersections and Innovations
Chapter Conclusion
10 Collective Behavior
The Maddening Crowd
Mass Hysteria
Circular Reaction
New Social Movements
Emergent Norm Theory
Value-Added Theory
The Anatomy of Collective Thoughts and Behavior
Collective Memory, Identity, and Imagination
Collective Behaviors
Chapter Conclusion
References
Glossary
Index
Over half a century ago, sociologist Herbert Blumer used the term “symbolic interaction” (SI) to describe a theoretical approach challenging behaviorism, functionalism, and other prevailing orthodoxies in the field. Rooted in the Chicago school of sociology and American pragmatism and bearing the distinctive imprint of George Herbert Mead and Robert E. Park, this school took hold, particularly in the American Midwest. While Rohall (Missouri State Univ.) does not dwell on this history, he offers a far-ranging overview of the various currents of symbolic interaction that have arisen since Blumer. Following introductory chapters on social constructionism and methods, the remaining eight chapters take up substantive topics. As such, the book bears a resemblance to a brief, introductory sociology textbook, framed entirely in terms of one theoretical perspective. There are chapters devoted to culture, the self, socialization, emotions (less covered in introductory texts), deviance and mental health, inequality, institutions, and collective behavior. Rohall writes in an accessible manner and uses a variety of pedagogical tools, including personal notes, excerpts from “original works,” and chapter reviews of "SI online." The result is a book professors committed to symbolic interaction will find appealing.
Summing Up: Recommended. Lower- and upper-division undergraduates.
— Choice Reviews
Features include:
The Original Work feature is a short piece from a book or journal article; there is one in every chapter. The goal of these articles is to provide students as sense of what it is like to read original research. They are built into the chapter, so they contribute new ideas, concepts, and theories in-and-of themselves. They also can be used in lieu of an ancillary reader; students can summarize and apply the reading to the rest of the chapter.
SI Online boxes include a review of how the principles of symbolic interaction apply to the effects of the Internet and modern communications on the individual and society. It is important that students know that symbolic interaction is applicable to any type of social interaction including those that occur in the online environment. SI Online boxes provide examples for students to utilize to consider the ways that they can apply symbolic interaction to their online activities.
Personal Notes boxes share student applications in which students describe how they have employed symbolic interaction to the world around them. These examples come from real students who are struggling to find ways to better understand their social worlds and how the use of concepts and theories associated with symbolic interaction have helped them in this quest.