CHAPTER #4 SOCIAL ACTION & INTERACTION

What is Social Action? Social action and Max Weber. The basic concept was primarily developed in the non-positivist theory of Max Weber to observe how human behaviors relate to cause and effect in the social realm. For Weber, sociology is the study of society and behavior and must therefore look at the heart of interaction.

Social Interaction. Erving Goffman was a sociologist who created a new field of study called micro sociology, or social interaction. Social interaction is the process by which we act and react to those around us What is Social Interaction?

ELEMENTS OF SOCIAL ACTION The Actor The goal Social Situation Normative orientation Energy

Types of Social Action The rational orientation to a system of discrete individual ends The rational orientation to an absolute value Traditionally oriented action The effectual orientation

Elements of Social Interaction Two or more than two persons Reciprocal relationship Influence on the event, behavior, brain of the persons

Forms of social interaction Between individual and individual Between individual and group Between group and group Between individual and culture

Measurement of social interaction Frequency Duration Intensity Focus

Co-operation Cooperation is the process of two or more people working or acting together. Cooperation enables social reality by laying the groundwork for social institutions, organizations, and the entire social system.social institutionsorganizations

Types of co-operation Direct co-operation Indirect co-operation

competition Competition in biology and sociology, is a contest between two or more organisms, animals, individuals, groups, etc., for territory, a niche, for a location of resources, for resources and goods, for mates, for prestige, for recognition, for awards, for group or social status, or for leadership.

conflict Conflict theories are perspectives in sociology and social psychology that emphasize the social, political, or material inequality of a social group, that critique the broad socio- political system, or that otherwise detract from structural functionalism and ideological conservatism.

Accommodation The term 'accommodation' refers to several sorts of working agreements between rival groups that permit at least limited cooperation between them even though the issues dividing them remain unsettled. It does not technically end the conflict, but holds it in abeyance. The accommodation may last for only a short time and may be for the purpose of allowing the conflicting parties to consolidate their positions and to prepare for further conflict. Or, as is more often the case, the initial accommodation agreed upon by the parties may be part of the process of seeking solutions to the issues that divide them. If those solutions are not found, the accommodation itself may become permanent.

Assimilation The term 'assimilation' again is in general use, being applied most often to the process whereby large numbers of migrants from Europe were absorbed into the American population during the 19th and the early part of the 20th century. The assimilation of immigrants was a dramatic and highly visible set of events and illustrates the process well. There are other types of assimilation, however, and there are aspects of the assimilation of European migrants that might be put in propositional form. First, assimilation is a two-way process. Second, assimilation of groups as well as individuals takes place. Third some assimilation probably occurs in all lasting interpersonal situations.

Acculturation This term is used to describe both the process of contacts between different cultures and also the customs of such contacts. As the process of contact between cultures, acculturation may involve either direct social interaction or exposure to other cultures by means of the mass media of communication.

Amalgamation Amalgamation is the process by which a minority group and a majority group combine to form a new group. Amalgamation creates the classic “melting pot” analogy; unlike the “salad bowl,” in which each culture retains its individuality, the “melting pot” ideal sees the combination of cultures resulting in a new culture entirely. Amalgamation, also known as miscegenation, is achieved through intermarriage between races. In the United States, anti- miscegenation laws flourished in the South during the Jim Crow era. It wasn’t until 1967’s Loving v. Virginia that the last antimiscegenation law was struck from the books, making these laws unconstitutional.