Culture is passed from one generation to the Feminism , a structural theory
next through socialisation; values, symbols, Collective identity – identity shared Believe society is male domin
beliefs, behaviours, traditions and rituals. The by a group e.g a gang member. of feminists;
dominant culture is the main culture in a society, Multiple identity – people have liberal – law s sexist and the w
which is shared by the majority of the several identities e.g. sex, class, brought up but becoming mo
population. religion. Marxist – still unequal, wome
benefit capitalism.
Stigmatised identity – a physical Radical – unequal, some belie
High culture, superior to other cultures. Aspects like impairment , social characteristics. is for us to live apart.
artistic and literary value, intellectual elites and upper and Goffman says it is an identity that is
middle class. undesirable or demeaning, Marxism and structural theor
excluding them from society. Society is dominated by the ru
Folk culture, local communities everyday life or ordinary based on conflict, capitalist so
people ; folk music and morris dancing. people wanting money and or
What is culture and maintain through control.
Mass culture , product of modern industrial society and
mass media; films, pop music and TV. identity? Interactionalism, action theor
How people interact with eac
Popular culture, cultural products appreciated by a large + theories actions can be interpreted in
number of people who have no pretensions to cultural
expertise. Post modern
Identity – how individuals see and define Is a medica saturated world a
Subculture, society are small and traditional, all people themselves and how others see and define defined by what we consume
share a common culture or way of life. them. about choice and what we pix
Giddens & stutton-
Global culture,different contries have become more alike, -primary identities, formed during a long Functionalism , a structural th
similar products and ways of life. period of primary socialisation through family. Society is based on consensus
-secondary identities, linked to secondary agreed normas and values, ev
Strinati says elements of high culture are a part of popular socialisation , linked to the roles that people function and society works lik
culture . adopt or achieve, such as work or education. body
More fluid and changeable through life.
, Mead argues that as children grow up
they begin to develop a sense of Cooley _ ‘the looking glass self’ Evaluation of social action
themselves - their self concept. Develop
ideas about how others see them and, by The reactions of others may make us Strength
seeing how people respond to them, they change or modify our views of ourselves 1. Social action theories avoids the det
may modify their self-concept and sense and our behaviour. Our individual or self- structural theories such as functiona
of identity and see themselves how concept therefore is a social construction, Marxism.
others see them. Mead divides the self rather than purely an individual identity. 2. Rather than individuals being passiv
into two parts; the ‘I’ and the ‘me’. ‘I‘ is 1. Imagine how I must appear to others them as having free will and choice.
the private inner self, opinion of yourself 2. Imagine judgement of others. 3. Rather than a top-down theory it is
whereas the ‘me’ is the social self that 3. Then develop myself through the and opuses on actions.
participates in everyay interaction judgement of others. 4. Research by social action theorists a
(shaped by others reactions). and therefore have higher levels of v
Goffman: the presentation of self and impression Social action
management (dramaturgical model) Weakness
He sees the world as a stage, with people acting out 1. Not all action is meaningful since
performances like actors in a play. People try project performed unconsciously or rout
particular impressions of themselves “presentation of may have little meaning for actor
self’ by putting on a ‘show’ to manipulate how people Labelling theory – Becker and Lemert 2. The theory focuses on face to fac
see you. Impression management is the way individuals If we believe something to be true, interactions and ignores wider so
try to convince others of the identity they which to assert then this belief will affect how we act. structures such as class and gend
by giving a particular impression. Studying how people E.g. if a teacher labels a student as inequality.
respond and we monitor and adjust our performance. disruptive, the teacher will act 3. It is not an explanatory theory, bu
There’s a ‘front’ stage where we act out our roles and a different towards them. We start to collection of descriptive concepts
‘back’ stage where we step out of our roles. Goffman see ourselves by the labels others give labelling.
argued that there is no certainty that their impression of us, and a self fulfilling prophecy 4. The dramaturgical analogy is limi
management will be successful, particularly with a occurs- we become what others see interactions are often improvised
stigmatised identity. us. unrehearsed.
