GEORGE HERBERT MEAD

George Herbert Mead contribution to sociological theory

George Herbert Mead contribution to sociological theory

George Herbert Mead is widely recognized as one of the most influential figures of American sociology. His pioneering work in social psychology helped to establish the reputation of the Chicago School of Sociology. His teachings also laid the groundwork for the philosophy of pragmatism in the United States. This paper focuses on Mead's sociological theory, particularly his contributions to social psychology. The first part of the paper summarizes the key points of Mead's social theory, including an evaluation of his work. The next part then examines how Mead's work can be expanded into other areas of sociological inquiry and sees whether his theories continue to have relevance today.

George Herbert Mead (1863-1931) was the founder father of the development of symbolic interaction. He concentrated more on small scale interaction between individuals or groups of individuals rather than social change on a large scale.

The theory explains individuals in terms of their belief systems. The freewill of the individual will determine their action according to what they believe is in their own interests. What one individual believes will be different from that of others depending on their own unique life experiences. There understanding of social life is based on how they see their environment; and what their expectations and interpretations of events are.

There are four main features within symbolic interaction. Firstly Mead like Weber, identified that the individual will adopt different roles in different situations. The individual will have expectations with regards to roles. The roles they play and the way in which they act will therefore, be determined by their past experiences, needs, comfort zone, safety and any formal expectations that are expected from them. These expectations will also be directed towards others, for example, they would expect a doctor to have the utmost respect for human life. If he failed to do so he would be going against their expectations of his role. Conflict can arise within relationships when; what people do and what people think they should be doing do not coincide.

Secondly Mead identified that in order to understand the world people have felt it necessary to label the act, so as to understand what it means. It has become important for individuals to categorise what is happening. Therefore, they label behaviour according to their own rules in order to understand it. This allows them to react to certain behaviours that are suitable to that label. For example, if a person raises their voice to an individual in an angry tone they will label that person as being angry. They therefore, categorise behaviour with labels, for example, friendly aggressive, careless behaviour and so on. These are assumptions based on what they have witnessed. Over a period of time they will learn to generalise certain acts which are done in specific situations. This leads them to stereotype specific labels to people. For example, if they see a person stagger or fall in the street they ...