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Modern Symbolic Interaction Theory and Health

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Medical Sociology on the Move

Abstract

As sociologists we know that people are connected both to and through society. Individuals share much in the way of values and understandings of the world and their actions generally appear to be coordinated—yet human actors are more than well-socialized cogs in a machine. The symbolic interactionist perspective helps us understand relationships between the individual and the larger society as dynamic. This theoretical perspective views concepts of self, social situations, and society as accomplished through people’s actions and interactions. Through its concepts and guiding assumptions, symbolic interactionism fosters theoretically-driven research with implications for medical sociology, which we address here.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    We have selected several main ideas to discuss how the symbolic interactionist perspective influences theorizing in medical sociology but have not detailed its significance in areas such as stigma and social constructionism as other chapters in this volume cover these topics. We realize that the influence of symbolic interactionism in medical sociology extends far beyond the boundaries of this chapter and the borders of North America and Northern Europe although many of the ideas we discuss emanate from these regions.

  2. 2.

    Grounded theory methods consist of a set of systematic strategies for conducting qualitative research. These methods begin with inductive data that the researcher codes, analyzes, and checks to construct an abstract theoretical analysis. Grounded theory methods were designed to construct middle-range theories of empirical problems. Relatively few researchers use all grounded theory strategies and perhaps fewer have constructed theories. These methods can, however, be used to sharpen qualitative analyses and have been widely adopted. For explication of the logic and practice of using grounded theory methods see Charmaz (2006, 2008a).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, 94928, CA, USA

    Kathy Charmaz

  2. University of Miami, Coral Gables, 33124, FL, USA

    Linda Liska Belgrave

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  1. Kathy Charmaz
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  2. Linda Liska Belgrave
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Correspondence to Kathy Charmaz .

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  1. , Department of Sociology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2nd Ave S 1720, Birmingham, 35294-1152, Alabama, USA

    William C. Cockerham

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Charmaz, K., Belgrave, L.L. (2013). Modern Symbolic Interaction Theory and Health. In: Cockerham, W. (eds) Medical Sociology on the Move. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6193-3_2

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