The Other from a Symbolic Interactionsist Perspective –
The Unemployed

von: Tamara Oberhauser

Introduction

1. Symbolic Interactionism – A brief overview

2. The “Other”

3. The unemployed individual

3.1 The unemployed in objective reality
3.2 The unemployed in subjective reality

4. Conclusion

References

Introduction

In these days the job situation in Germany is seriously bad. More than 4.3 million people are out of work, no matter what level of education they have. The situation in Eastern Germany, where there is an unemployment rate of up to nearly 20% is even worse, particularly for young people under 20, of whom 9.1% are unemployed (cf. Statistisches Bundesamt Deutschland). Although this is mainly a political and economical issue, the social importance of unemployment must not be neglected as realities of jobless people can be drastically altered , especially for those, whose life career was dominated by their work, no matter if they were in high or low positions. As Symbolic Interactionism is in the first place a theory about the everlasting process of social interaction between human beings, the unemployed individual in context to society seems to be worth discussing in this theoretical perspective. So, this essay deals with the unemployed individual in society and their perception of reality during the phase of unemployment related to the main ideas of Symbolic Interactionism found in the book The Social Construction Of Reality. A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge by P. Berger and Th. Luckmann first published in 1966. This book serves as a conception of the sociological theory of Symbolic Interactionism and its theoretical development.

The first chapter summarizes the major points of Symbolic Interactionism and chapter two deals with the idea of the “Other” within this theoretical approach. The third chapter examines the unemployed individual relating to their objective and subjective reality. Finally, chapter four presents the consequences of reality perception by unemployed individuals through social interactions and their relevance to society.

1. Symbolic Interactionism – A brief overview

Symbolic interactionism as a theory of socialization deals with the question of how individuals and groups interact, focusing on the creation of personal identity through interactions with others. Of particular interest is the relationship between individual action and society, this has to be considered as a corresponding process. Hereby the individual appears to be an acting organism, which is fundamentally social. Symbolic interactionism emphasises the idea that individuals become social beings only through interactions with others. Every interaction between individuals forms a society, as well as society forms the individual. The main statements of the perspective of Symbolic Interactionism can be summarized by concluding that every action of an individual causes a response in at least one other individual and is then reflected in the individual themselves, i. e. there occurs an immediate reaction to an individual’s action, which makes them capable to integrate an objective attitude towards their acting through others. This “dialectical process” contains “three moments” which are “externalization, objectivation and internalization” (Berger and Luckmann 1991, 149). Hereby language plays an important role as a significant symbol. This enables individuals to understand the meanings of certain actions. These meanings are socially constructed and therefore unstable and changeable.1 As human conduct then is constantly influenced by both, the individual’s own actions and the activities of others, society as a whole can be seen as an ongoing interactional process of mutual dependance. This process includes forming the identity of an individual by establishing the so called “Self”. According to Mead’s basic ideas the “Self” consists of the “I” on the one hand and the “Me” on the other hand. Acting as a response of the organism to the attitudes of others constitutes the “I”. The “Me” is the result of internalizing the attitudes of others towards the individual in their mind. This means, that an individual is not what they think they are, but what others think they are. Cooley (1902, 196) names this “the looking glass self”, what emphasizes, that an individual sees himself through the others by internalizing their reactions to their actions.

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1 The view of social reality as a continously changing and fluid one is particularly emphazised by Negotiated Order Theory, which is grounded in Symbolic Interactionism. This is in the first place an approach that deals with interactional processes between individuals and institutions and points out the dependance of interactions upon given circumstances and conditions. Changing of interactions means also changing of meanings, e. g. different interpretations of formal rules. (cf. R. Day and J. V. Day: “A review of the current state of Negotiated Order Theory: an Apreciation and a Citique” The Sociological Quarterly (1977) Vol.18 pp.126-142.)