Youth Crime
Through out history, sociologists have conjured different perspectives on society and social behavior, and from these observations sociological theories have been established. This paper will be focusing on one of these theories, which is the symbolic interactionist perspective. According to symbolic interactionist perspectives, society is the sum of the interactions of individuals and groups (Murray, Linden, & Kendall, 2011, p.20). These theorists emphasize on the interaction between one another and the symbols that represent meaning in human communication. This paper will be exploring the cause and effect of youth crime and analyzing this issue through a symbolic interactionist perspective.
The Symbolic Interactionist Perspective
According to McClelland (2009), interactionists focus on the subjective aspects of social life, rather than on objective, macro-structural aspects of social systems. Unlike functional theorists, Interactionists focus on the human being rather than the society as a whole. Functionalist and conflict theorists focus mainly on a macrolevel analysis, while symbolic interactionist approaches are based on a microlevel analysis. George Herbert Mead and Herbert Bloomer are accredited thinkers in contributing to this theory. They believed that society is the sum of interactions of individuals and groups and that symbols are created to represent something meaningful. Understanding these symbols that are created will help understand human behavior. This perspective focuses mainly on our actions as human beings and how those actions can be interpreted in society. This is explained further by, the process is further aided by our ability to think about and to react to our own actions and even our selves as symbolic objects. Thus, the interactionist theorist sees humans as active, creative participants who construct their social world, not as passive, conforming objects of socialization ( McClelland, 2009). In society, not all members may
The Symbolic Interactionist Perspective
According to McClelland (2009), interactionists focus on the subjective aspects of social life, rather than on objective, macro-structural aspects of social systems. Unlike functional theorists, Interactionists focus on the human being rather than the society as a whole. Functionalist and conflict theorists focus mainly on a macrolevel analysis, while symbolic interactionist approaches are based on a microlevel analysis. George Herbert Mead and Herbert Bloomer are accredited thinkers in contributing to this theory. They believed that society is the sum of interactions of individuals and groups and that symbols are created to represent something meaningful. Understanding these symbols that are created will help understand human behavior. This perspective focuses mainly on our actions as human beings and how those actions can be interpreted in society. This is explained further by, the process is further aided by our ability to think about and to react to our own actions and even our selves as symbolic objects. Thus, the interactionist theorist sees humans as active, creative participants who construct their social world, not as passive, conforming objects of socialization ( McClelland, 2009). In society, not all members may
References: Brown, L., & Brown, S. (2008) Understanding youth and crime (2nd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw- Hill Education Bressan, A., & Taylor- Butts, A. (2008) Youth crime in Canada. Retrieved from http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/85-002-x/2008003/article/10566-eng.htm Doob, A. N., & McMurtry R.R. (2011, November 7). When tough is not smart; harsh sentencing rules only make youth crime worse McClelland, K. (2009). Symbolic interactionism. Retrieved from http://web.grinnell.edu/courses/soc/s00/soc111-01/IntroTheories/Symbolic.html Murray, J. L., Linden, R., & Kendall. D. (2011). Sociology in our times: The essentials. (5th Canadian ed.)