Assess the claim made by interactionists that the social world has to be explained in terms of the meanings that the acotors give to their actions. (Points in essay may be elaborated on)

Interactionists, who believe in symbolic interactionism, contrary to other sociologists, believe that there is no structure in society, and so there is nothing to influence a person's behaviour. Interactionists also tend to look at every person (the actor) as an individual and study him or her in detail, rather than absorbing people into predetermined groups and studying each group. One interactionist, George Hubert Mead, develop a concept, known as the self concept, which talks about …showed first 75 words of 733 total…

…showed last 75 words of 733 total…he sees himself in the mirror as well as the way society sees him. It is also important to mention that the social world may not be viewed through the lens of each individual person, as otherwise it would not be the study of society but the study of the individual. To be the sociology one must view the actions through the structures and values of the society as a whole rather than the individual.