Theoretical Consideration of Integrating Social Structure Into Symbolic Interactionism: Selected Methodological Insights

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to elucidate the process-social structure controversy, concerning the relations of self to symbolic interactionism. Increasingly, knowledgeable scholars of self theory are gaining methodological insights, which support the fact that our conceptions of process and social structure are each incomplete, supplementary dimensions articulating the same phenomenal states of being and development.Just as self and society are “twin born’; structure and process are analytically separable dimensions of self that, however, are not mutually reducible. Hence, the basic problem, attempted herein, is to expound dimensions of the symbolic interactionist perspective required for logically specifying and analyzing those psychological, social and situational conditions under which social structure and social process each exert their differential – as well as their combined, simultaneous influences in determining consequences that self has for social behavior.

Stigma, Secrets, and the Human Condition: Seeking to Remedy Alienation in PostSecret's Digitally Mediated Environment

“…In discussing the relations of symbolic interaction to role making, Clagett (1988) consults Lauer and Boardman's (1971) work on role taking, specifically their processional view that “an individual imaginatively constructs the attitudes of the other” (quoted in Clagett 1988:99). Such a construction is used to anticipate how the other individual might behave.…”

“…It is no longer a question of being ‘true to self’ for all time, but rather of being true to self‐in‐context or true to self‐in‐relationship.” Straddling the nondigitally mediated world and the digitally mediated world brings layers of complexity to the task of being “true to self.” Perhaps to simplify the complexity or mitigate the ambiguity, PostSecret assumes a foundation of trust in the truth of the “true to self” representation of the secret revealer. Consider this observation by Clagett (1988:104):…”