Symbolic Interactionism

John Dewey argued that "mind" is not a fixed entity, but consists only of the actual processes of thinking; an idea which dates back to Locke and Hume. This idea had a profound impact on George Herbert Mead, who is considered the founding father of symbolic interactionism. Mead (1934) believed that the mind arises from thought, not thought from mind. That is, the mind develops gradually as symbolic gestures and words are learned, thereby creating a capacity for mental representations of reality, or thoughts (Craib, 1984). It is difficult to conceive of what a mind is, if not its thoughts. Thus, Mead contended, there must be thoughts in order for there to be a mind, and thoughts are based on symbolic interaction. The infant, then develops his mind by learning to communicate with others; this is the beginning of the social self (Larson, 1973).

Aside from Dewey, Charles Horton Cooley had the greatest impac

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ol their actions and make independent decisions by virtue of what he called the "I/Me dialectic." The self has, he said, two parts. The "Me" is the self as object: it consists of internalized societal norms and is responsible for consistent and socially appropriate behavior. The "I" is the self as subject: it is responsible for creativity, spontaneity, and independent decision-making (Stryker, 1980). The I/Me dialectic filters all external interactions, and is capable of choosing among alternative actions symbolically present in one's experience, even those which may not be socially acceptable (Mead, 1934). Herbert Blumer (1969) offers this explanation of human action: 1. Humans act toward things on the basis of the meanings that things have for them. 2. Meaning derives from social interaction. 3. Meanings are modified by their interpretations, as used by persons in actual situations. (p.2) The symbolic interactionist theory of the social self may help explain some of the reasons for the continuing problems of teen pregnancy and drug use in the United States. The concepts of the looking glass self and of acquired meaning are particularly applicable to these issues. First of all, we should dispel the notion that either
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Approximate Word count = 1697
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)

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