Assess the contribution of Social Action Theory to sociology Essay Example for Free

Assess the contribution of Social Action Theory to sociology Essay Social Action Theorists, or Interactionists are also known as micro sociologists, this is because instead of looking at the bigger picture in society, and how the large structures and institutions such as the education and judiciary systems affect individuals, which is what Marxists and Functionalists (macro sociologists) look at, Social Action Theorists look at the opposite, how us, individuals, act by our own accord, and how we make up society. This is known as a ‘bottom up’ view of society. They see people as having a much more active role in society, as opposed to the passive puppets that Structuralists make us out to be. They reject the view that our behaviour is the product of these organisations and structure. Although Social Action Theorists do look very much as individual behaviour, they also take into account the fact that we are aware of the people around us, they argue that our behaviour is influenced by how other individuals react to us and behave, so society is made up because people come together and interact. We are able to react to each other’s behaviour in this way because we have learnt how to expect what people should and shouldn’t do, and how to interpret behaviour. We have meanings for various symbols during interactions, for example, someone frowning may show confusion or anger, and someone swearing with a hand gesture may be insulting, because of these codes and symbols, we are able to anticipate behaviour, and judge how people are feeling. This also gives us a knowledge about what behaviour is and isn’t appropriate in certain situations. These different situations can also affect how we behave and what behaviour is acceptable, for example shouting and swearing may be seen as acceptable at a football match, but this would be highly inappropriate in the middle of a supermarket or library. These behaviours and expected ways of carrying ourselves, or norms and values, (especially the basic ones, such as how to act around others) are learnt from the family at a young age. However education teaches us how to act in a larger range of social situations. The acquiring of this knowledge is what leads to us gaining our identity. Social action theorists suggest that there are three main parts to our identity. The first of these parts is the things that make us individual, such as name, signature and photograph. The second aspect is social identity, which is made up of the personality characteristics that are associated with our role in society. For example, I am seen as an older brother, which society may make me out to be annoying and protective of my younger sibling, but I am also seen as a student, who is perceived to be hard-working and well-behaved. The final part of our identity is the concept of ‘self’, or what we think of ourselves, and how we think we play our respective roles. This concept of ‘self’ has been developed further by social action theorists, who believe that this can be further broken down into two components, the ‘I’ and the ‘me’. The ‘I’ is the private inner self, what we truly think of ourselves, whereas ‘me’ is the social self, and is the one that carries out the roles of brother and student. Goffman referred to society as a play, and that we are all as individuals, actors in this play, or in the drama of everyday life. The expected ways of behaving, or social norms are the script, for example, greeting someone with ‘Good morning’ is expected. He suggests that the roles we carry out are simply a performance designed to create a particular impression. For example in front of grandparents, I put on this performance of being exceptionally well mannered (believe it or not). Another part of social action theory is the concept of labelling. This is when someone is put into a group, or stereotyped, because of the way they look or act. For example a young person may be labelled as a ‘goth’ because they have pale skin, black hair, and listen to a certain type of music. Becker came up with the idea of a Master Status. This means that an individual can have a status (normally negative) which overrides all other labels. For example, someone may be a very good brother and son, but then may be arrested for robbery, and then the label of ‘criminal’ will become his master status, and people won’t see the brother or the son they saw before, they will simply see him as a criminal. It is believed that these labels lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy. This means that someone will react to the label they have been given, and this label will become true. For example, if a teacher (very wrongly) labels a student as ‘dumb’ they may think they genuinely are dumb, and will not do well at school. However it has been argued that the opposite can occur, and people may go out of their way to disprove their label, to carry on with the example before, the ‘dumb’ student may try exceptionally hard at home and at school, to prove the teacher wrong, the label may act as motivation. There are many criticisms of Social Action Theory, one being that they tend to be very vague when describing who is responsible for creating these norms and values, and interpretations that mean we know how to act around people and in certain situations. They fail to explain power, and factors which may affect these norms such as class or gender.

Hamlet - Claudius Vs. Lady Macbeth Essay -- essays research papers

Claudius vs. Lady Macbeth King Claudius of Hamlet and Lady Macbeth of Macbeth exhibit three similar qualities, dishonesty, evilness, and deceitfulness throughout the play; although sometimes they demonstrate these qualities in different ways, these qualities greatly affect the other characters in the plays . King Claudius and Lady Macbeth are similar in that they both let their crave of power and desire for the crown drive them to deceitfulness, corruption, and even murder, to obtain it. King Claudius and Lady Macbeth are so greedy for wealth and power that they will let nothing get in their way, even if it means deceiving the ones they love. King Claudius was in love with his brother ¹s wife and desired his position as king. In order to obtain these things he went behind Gertrude, his lover ¹s, back and murdered her husband. Shortly after, he married her and took the crown. Not only was this extremely deceitful to Gertrude, but it hurt Hamlet, his nephew, extremely. Lady Macbeth was indeed as power hungry as Claudius, and she too plotted a murder in order for her husband to obtain the crown. In doing this she was extremely deceitful of her lover also. She employed many conniving tricks in order to convince Macbeth to kill King Duncan, such as in scene in Act I, scene seven when she says,  ³From this time such I account thy love. ² Here she is basically saying that Macbeth may prove his undying love for her by killing the king, thus causing him to feel that he is obligated to murder King Duncan. King Claudius and Lady Macbeth are also very good at disguising their deceit. In Hamlet, only Hamlet himself is aware of the true nature of Claudius. All others, including his Wife and subjects, think he is a wonderful and innocent King. Lady Macbeth is the same in that she puts up a wonderful facade for both the public and her husband. Although she is planning a murder Lady Macbeth manages to still act as a smiling, gracious hostess. Lady Macbeth's house guests and King Duncan, whom she intends to kill, even refer to her as their  ³honour ¹d hostess, ² in Act I, scene six. Her husband is also fooled by her charade and is unable to see her evil intent as she cons him into killing the king. Lady Macbeth keeps this facade until the end of the play when her t rapped feelings finally drive her mad. Another thing these two characters have in common is that... ...f his encroaching madness, and partly as a ploy to throw off Claudius and his spies. Ophelia was so shocked and confused over Hamlet ¹s complete betrayal that she could hardly go on living, and in the end she became so overwhelmed that she committed suicide. Lady Macbeth also affected many characters with her deceitfulness. The character most greatly affected was her husband, Macbeth. Until he was convinced by his wife, Macbeth had decided that he was going to stay loyal to the King, and put all notions of murder out of his head. In Act I, scene seven Macbeth declares,  ³We will proceed no further in this business, ² meaning he has decided to end all thoughts of murdering the king. Lady Macbeth will not give up though, and instead begins to try to further lure Macbeth into participating in her corrupt plans. Eventually she is successful in doing this, and Macbeth murders Duncan. Lady Macbeth lit a spark of evil in Macbeth that turned into his destruction. Macbeth became pow er hungry and murdered many others in order to have it. Lady Macbeth turned her loyal, honorable husband into a corrupt fool. In the end it all lead to the total destruction of a once well respected, virtuous hero.

Behavioral Influences on Health

It can be argued that various behavioral, psychological, sociocultural and lifestyle factors are related to the various causes of human mortality. Rationally, the root causes of various diseases that cause human death are associated with these factors. Therefore, we can argue on the point of view on how these factors are related to human health and the spread of various diseases that ultimately causes mortality.At one level, behavioral human factors can be argued as the characteristic phenomena of behavioral conceptions that may lead to contracting diseases. In this respect, human behavior could be argued in terms the relationship with the peer groups, morality, sexual behavior, attitudes towards oneself, virtues and moral obligations. Various ill-behavioral conceptions and tendencies have been known to act as the root cause of various diseases.For example, peer pressure may result to deviance, alcoholism, smoking and other conceptions (Joseph, 2005) From the implications of these be haviors therefore, various diseases such as diabetes, cancer, and other internal disorders and ailments that are strong causatives of human mortality tend to occur. The strength and the models of a personal behavior can therefore determine the propensity with which he/she can contract certain killer diseases and ailments at the expense of other behavioral patterns.The levels of morality which is shaped by the behavioral models can be a factor towards which killer diseases like HIV-AIDs and other sexually transmitted diseases and ailments that are vulnerable in causing mortality can be transmitted. Psychological factors are the human related factors that shape and determine the standards of ones health. Various studies in health psychology have depicted a close relationship between the cognition, personality, perception, interpersonal relationships and personal emotions towards human health related issues.Various psychological disorders that arise as a result of disruption in the psy chological context of a person have been known to cause mortality. The principal researches done on both clinical and health psychology has revealed various diseases that are psychologically related and which are of great impact to human health. The human psychological development is a complex autonomy that is attributed to both the mental and the cognitive personality.Various attributes are of great impact to the psychological provisions of a person that causes disability in the functional layout of ones psychological dispensation. Research studies have shown that the rate of mortality as a result of psychological disorders is increasingly becoming more (Benjamin, 2003) Sociocultural factors refer to the structural factors within the family footage or the society which shapes and determines the contexts of a person’s health. These structural settings dictate the functionality, response and behavior of a person within such a social context.Within the family setting, various h ealth related factors may arise such as level of dietary, physical health, family pressure, and various influences such as the level of education, income, and living standards. Either, various cultural parameters may shape the nature of human health. These include cultural integration, family relations, cultural stereotypes and other factors. The nature of the sociocultural attributes has been of great influence in shaping the contexts of human health and possibilities of contracting diseases that cause death (Ann, 1998)Lifestyles refer to the modalities of person’s way of life. It is determined by various factors such as level of education, family backgrounds, level of income, cultural factors and other. Generally, the nature of a person’s or families’ lifestyles may be attributes towards contracting diseases, the ability of seeking medical attention and the vulnerability of achieving control and preventive measures. Consequently, a person’s health is de termined preferential by the standards and levels of his/her lifestyles. (James, Simon, 2006) Behavioral Influences on Health It can be argued that various behavioral, psychological, sociocultural and lifestyle factors are related to the various causes of human mortality. Rationally, the root causes of various diseases that cause human death are associated with these factors. Therefore, we can argue on the point of view on how these factors are related to human health and the spread of various diseases that ultimately causes mortality. At one level, behavioral human factors can be argued as the characteristic phenomena of behavioral conceptions that may lead to contracting diseases.In this respect, human behavior could be argued in terms the relationship with the peer groups, morality, sexual behavior, attitudes towards oneself, virtues and moral obligations. Various ill-behavioral conceptions and tendencies have been known to act as the root cause of various diseases. For example, peer pressure may result to deviance, alcoholism, smoking and other conceptions (Joseph, 2005) From the implications of these b ehaviors therefore, various diseases such as diabetes, cancer, and other internal disorders and ailments that are strong causatives of human mortality tend to occur.The strength and the models of a personal behavior can therefore determine the propensity with which he/she can contract certain killer diseases and ailments at the expense of other behavioral patterns. The levels of morality which is shaped by the behavioral models can be a factor towards which killer diseases like HIV-AIDs and other sexually transmitted diseases and ailments that are vulnerable in causing mortality can be transmitted. Psychological factors are the human related factors that shape and determine the standards of ones health.Various studies in health psychology have depicted a close relationship between the cognition, personality, perception, interpersonal relationships and personal emotions towards human health related issues. Various psychological disorders that arise as a result of disruption in the ps ychological context of a person have been known to cause mortality. The principal researches done on both clinical and health psychology has revealed various diseases that are psychologically related and which are of great impact to human health.The human psychological development is a complex autonomy that is attributed to both the mental and the cognitive personality. Various attributes are of great impact to the psychological provisions of a person that causes disability in the functional layout of ones psychological dispensation. Research studies have shown that the rate of mortality as a result of psychological disorders is increasingly becoming more (Benjamin, 2003) Sociocultural factors refer to the structural factors within the family footage or the society which shapes and determines the contexts of a person’s health.These structural settings dictate the functionality, response and behavior of a person within such a social context. Within the family setting, various health related factors may arise such as level of dietary, physical health, family pressure, and various influences such as the level of education, income, and living standards. Either, various cultural parameters may shape the nature of human health. These include cultural integration, family relations, cultural stereotypes and other factors.The nature of the sociocultural attributes has been of great influence in shaping the contexts of human health and possibilities of contracting diseases that cause death (Ann, 1998) Lifestyles refer to the modalities of person’s way of life. It is determined by various factors such as level of education, family backgrounds, level of income, cultural factors and other. Generally, the nature of a person’s or families’ lifestyles may be attributes towards contracting diseases, the ability of seeking medical attention and the vulnerability of achieving control and preventive measures.Consequently, a person’s health is de termined preferential by the standards and levels of his/her lifestyles. (James, Simon, 2006) Reference Ann, F. (1998). Human Health and Diseases. New York, Heinemann Benjamin. G. C. (2003) Reducing unhealthy Behaviors: Where do we start? American journal f public health, Vol. 93 James, R & Simon, G (2006) What is Human Health. London, Routledge Joseph, k (2005) Social Inequalities towards Human Health, Journal of Pediatrics,

Bp The Spill Of The Gulf Of Mexico - 921 Words

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Noting that it took BP over 4 months to replace a timeworn containment cap just to stop oil from contaminating the Gulf of M exico, it is readily questioned why such a well-established mega giant never considered the chance of having a blast at an operating site. On the bright side, due to this incident and similar others, numerous organizations have been formulating and establishing emergency or disaster plans and policies to respond to a variety of disaster scenarios. Thus, suggesting that contingency planning is imperative for an organization in the long run in order to avoid massive instant loss since thereShow MoreRelatedBP Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill 905 Words   |  4 PagesCASE STUDY- MINI CASE: BP GULF OF MEXICO OIL SPILL CASE SUMMARY 1. In a narrative format, summarize the key facts and issues of the case. In the case of the BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill, we examine the effects of an organization not being prepared for this particular crisis. 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