John LeversoBlog 6
Personal Responsibility
Social theorists have attempted to explain how society operates from a wide variety of angles. We have learned about theories that say society is capitalist driven from Marx and
Weber. Then we learned theories from structural functionalists which argued that society is based on an interrelated system of institutions. This week we discussed theorists, such as Goofman, that claim society is not driven by capitalism or institutions, but by everyday interactions. This approach, known as the symbolic interaction approach sees society as a big play and all the people living in it are the actors with roles or parts to play. Goofman and symbolic interactionalists downplay the effect of the environment on the individual and argue that the environment influences action, but does not determine it.
In this blog I will give accent to the symbolic interactionalists’ theory that society does not cause behavior it merely influences it. In accordance with symbolic interactionalist views I agree that everyday interactions influence behavior more than the environment.
It is easy to say that a person is a product of their environment. It is even easier to say that socio-economic status and society guide behavior. This sounds like a cop out.
Meaning, it takes personal responsibility away from the individual and makes an individual not accountable for his actions. I agree that socio-economic and societal factors set the framework for social interaction, but the individual and personal choice ultimately govern the
individuals’ actions. Furthermore, a person’s actions are guided by personal choice and personal choice is guided by everyday interactions. Let me
elaborate on this theory:
People make choices to present a certain face to others.
A face is the image you want to portray to the person or people you
interact with. Take peer pressure for example. A teenager is
influenced by his peers because the teenager is trying to portray himself in a
certain manner. The teenager is trying to put on a certain face.
The face the teen is trying to portray could be any number of things
depending on the youth and the peer group. Some common faces include trying to
appear tough or cool. Ultimately the teenager choses to conform to the peer group, but his choices are heavily distorted by the influence and interaction of the peer
group.
The face is just one component of what symbolic interactionalists call the presentation of self. Thepresentation of self has behavioral and verbal aspects as well.
It is the sum of all the actions one uses to present themselves in a
manner they deem appropriate to the contextual situation. Furthermore, the self a person presents depends on his perceived status and role. Status is an individual’s rank in society. Different statuses have different perceived ranks and roles are the actions required to maintain statuses. In other words, our societal rank and the actions needed to maintain our
rank determine the manner in which we present ourselves. Let’s return to peer pressure. The alpha or leader of the peer group acts in a way that influences the other adolescent’s behaviors and, in turn, the other adolescents influence his actions.
Hence, everyday interactions influence choice and choices are dictated by
how a person sees others acting or how he wants others to view his
actions.
My argument is that personal choice guides behavior more than
environmental factors. People act the way they do because they choose to. Furthermore, choices are heavily influenced by everyday interaction.
A person acts the way they do in relation to the appearance they want to
portray to others. It is that simple. Society needs to hold
people personally responsible for their actions not let them off the hook saying
it was not their fault they are a product of their environment.
Personal Responsibility
Social theorists have attempted to explain how society operates from a wide variety of angles. We have learned about theories that say society is capitalist driven from Marx and
Weber. Then we learned theories from structural functionalists which argued that society is based on an interrelated system of institutions. This week we discussed theorists, such as Goofman, that claim society is not driven by capitalism or institutions, but by everyday interactions. This approach, known as the symbolic interaction approach sees society as a big play and all the people living in it are the actors with roles or parts to play. Goofman and symbolic interactionalists downplay the effect of the environment on the individual and argue that the environment influences action, but does not determine it.
In this blog I will give accent to the symbolic interactionalists’ theory that society does not cause behavior it merely influences it. In accordance with symbolic interactionalist views I agree that everyday interactions influence behavior more than the environment.
It is easy to say that a person is a product of their environment. It is even easier to say that socio-economic status and society guide behavior. This sounds like a cop out.
Meaning, it takes personal responsibility away from the individual and makes an individual not accountable for his actions. I agree that socio-economic and societal factors set the framework for social interaction, but the individual and personal choice ultimately govern the
individuals’ actions. Furthermore, a person’s actions are guided by personal choice and personal choice is guided by everyday interactions. Let me
elaborate on this theory:
People make choices to present a certain face to others.
A face is the image you want to portray to the person or people you
interact with. Take peer pressure for example. A teenager is
influenced by his peers because the teenager is trying to portray himself in a
certain manner. The teenager is trying to put on a certain face.
The face the teen is trying to portray could be any number of things
depending on the youth and the peer group. Some common faces include trying to
appear tough or cool. Ultimately the teenager choses to conform to the peer group, but his choices are heavily distorted by the influence and interaction of the peer
group.
The face is just one component of what symbolic interactionalists call the presentation of self. Thepresentation of self has behavioral and verbal aspects as well.
It is the sum of all the actions one uses to present themselves in a
manner they deem appropriate to the contextual situation. Furthermore, the self a person presents depends on his perceived status and role. Status is an individual’s rank in society. Different statuses have different perceived ranks and roles are the actions required to maintain statuses. In other words, our societal rank and the actions needed to maintain our
rank determine the manner in which we present ourselves. Let’s return to peer pressure. The alpha or leader of the peer group acts in a way that influences the other adolescent’s behaviors and, in turn, the other adolescents influence his actions.
Hence, everyday interactions influence choice and choices are dictated by
how a person sees others acting or how he wants others to view his
actions.
My argument is that personal choice guides behavior more than
environmental factors. People act the way they do because they choose to. Furthermore, choices are heavily influenced by everyday interaction.
A person acts the way they do in relation to the appearance they want to
portray to others. It is that simple. Society needs to hold
people personally responsible for their actions not let them off the hook saying
it was not their fault they are a product of their environment.