Question 1: In the assigned reading, Cassie Chambers Hill Women pages 43-89, find and describe 3 instances where their societal value of COMMUNITY is shown to the reader. Find an example of a self-f

Social Inequality – Week 6 – Reading 1

By V. Smerglia

Theories of Social Inequality: The Symbolic Interactionist Explanation

To understand Symbolic Interactionism’s explanation of social inequality, we must first understand the ideas from that theory that are used specifically to analyze inequality.

Some central concepts are: the social construction of reality, the “Thomas Theorem,” institutionalization, and self-fulfilling prophecy.

First, Peter Berger suggested society is the sum of all social interactions, the social construction of reality. Three processes go on at the same time in society:

1) Externalization, meaning individuals share ideas, beliefs, opinion with others, who hear and react by not accepting the ideas or by 2) Internalization, meaning they accept and internalize the ideas. These processes go on all the time among the members of society. 3) Objectivation, meaning the sum of all our interactions, internalizing and externalizing, becomes an objective reality, which is society. An example may help you understand.

In the late 1960’s & early1970’s, unrest began on college campuses over Americans fighting the Viet Nam War. Students were sharing ideas, saying they didn’t want to go because it was a civil war irrelevant to the U.S. (At the time, men were drafted and went). These ideas progressed from minority opinions as they were shared over and over, externalized and internalized. Young men began to burn their draft cards. You probably have heard all of this. Finally, the opinion was shared and moved into the general population as more people protested that war. Eventually, the objective reality of Americans’ beliefs was that the U.S. should get out of Viet Nam.

This an example of is why Berger said we all share in the creation of reality, because it is constructed from all of our interactions with each other, our internalization and externalization. Society is socially constructed! (Berger and Luckmann, 1966)

The Thomas Theorem says: “If men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences” (Thomas and Thomas 1928). [“Men” in 1928 meant everyone!] This means exactly what it says. If you believe you are no good at math, you probably won’t do well. If you believe you can learn to swim, you probably can. If you believe a teacher doesn’t like you, you will probably do poorly, and, worse, believe there is something wrong with you. Look for examples of The Thomas Theorem in the two books you are reading!!

Institutionalization is about patterns. Within institutions, an idea or belief that is inserted tends to become a pattern. We have seen it during this pandemic. The idea of doctor appointments by phone or FaceTime spread and became Teledoc, change in the institution of health care. Grocery stores set up on-line shopping and pick-ups; the idea spread and now is common, a change in the institutions of work and family. We’ve witnessed institutionalization of many norms through shared ideas during these months.

Finally, the self-fulfilling prophecy (Merton, 1957): Extending the Thomas Theorem, this means we begin to act as though something is real because we believe it. And, our actions may change our lives. When I teach aging, I say: If a 25-year-old stumbles, he/she doesn’t say “I stumbled because I’m 25!” But, if you are 75, you say, “I stumbled because I’m old.” The stereotypes of aging are institutionalized in media and other institutions. So, the elderly person, who may have stumbled at 25, believes it is because of age and acts as if he/she is a lesser person because he is old.

The Social Construction of Inequality: With this groundwork on the ideas from symbolic interactionism used to explain social inequality, the rest should be clear.

For many generations, children, both boys and girls, were raised (and some still are) to believe men should be leaders, the heads of households. Women should be caretakers in the family. Men should be doctors. Women should be nurses. These beliefs were institutionalized in families, the media, health care, sometimes, in education. Patterns of of behavior became norms in these institutions: fathers mow lawns and take care of cars; mothers take care of children and make meals, etc. Women are shown in laundry detergent ads. Women are focused on getting a man in movies. (showing a woman has to have another person to make her acceptable) Nurses show respect for doctors.

Thus, gender inequality has been and often still is perpetuated through values and norms embedded in institutions because they were shared and internalized, became self-fulfilling prophecies and REALITY (if girls are taught in families that they are naturally more emotional than male family members and boys are taught that men don’t cry, then girls feel freer to be emotional and boys hold their emotions in.) Of course, the same applies to class, race, ethnicity, age, sexual identity, religion, physical appearance. If shared ideas such as stereotypes have been internalized, self-fulfilling prophecies, and institutionalized, social inequality is explained.

Social Construction of Inequality: The sum of individual interactions creates reality & part of reality is inequality. The sum of our beliefs & behaviors..what we have internalized & externalized has become our objective reality (Berger, 1966).

Berger, P. L., and T. Luckmann. 1966. The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge. Garden City, NY: Anchor Books.

Merton, Robert K. 1957. “The Role-Set: Problems in Sociological Theory.” British Journal of Sociology 8(2):110–113.

Thomas, W.I., and D.S. Thomas. 1928. The Child in America: Behavior Problems and Programs. New York: Knopf.