Читать книгу Essentials of Sociology - George Ritzer - Страница 133

As the example of feral and isolated children suggests, development as a human presupposes the existence of other humans and interaction with and among them. This brings us into the domain of symbolic interactionism, which developed many ideas of great relevance to this view of humans. In general, the interaction that takes place between parents and children is loaded with symbols and symbolic meaning.

One early symbolic interactionist, Charles Horton Cooley (1864–1929), explained how parents help children develop the ability to interact with others with his famous concept of the looking-glass self. This is the idea that as humans we develop a self-image that reflects how others see and respond to us. We imagine how we appear to others and how they evaluate our appearance. Based on that, we develop some sort of self-feeling, such as pride or embarrassment. Because children’s earliest interactions are typically with their parents, it is that interaction that is most important in the formation of a self-image. This helps explain why feral children and others who spend their formative years in prolonged social isolation are unlikely to form a fully developed self-image: There are no others to respond to them. It is as we interact with others, especially when we are young, that we develop a sense of our selves.

The major thinker associated with symbolic interactionism (see Chapter 2) is one of Cooley’s contemporaries, George Herbert Mead (1863–1931). Mead ([1934] 1962) was very concerned with the micro level (the individual, the mind, the self). He prioritized the social relationship, including interaction, and the importance of symbols in social interaction. In fact, it is this prioritization of the social that distinguishes sociologists from psychologists in their studies of individuals and interaction.

George Herbert Mead’s ideas strongly influenced the development of sociological theory, especially symbolic interactionism. His most famous work, Mind, Self, and Society, originated as lectures from his teachings at the University of Chicago.

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