Interactionist Sociology Research Articles

Creating “Windows of Opportunity”: How Police Officers Sense and Generate Momentum for Gaining Control in Police‐Civilian Interactions

This article examines how police officers generate momentum and create opportunities for gaining control in—what they perceive as—potentially violent interactions. Theoretically, the article aims to add to interactionist sociology by illuminating the mechanisms through which participants anticipate and create shared meanings of future possibilities for an encounter. I build upon insights into the function of social interaction for future configuration proposed by interactionist scholars since the 1960s. The empirical contribution is to challenge explanations of officers' attempts to gain control as mere cognitivist decision‐making, ignoring the embodied dimension of anticipating. Drawing on ninety‐four elicitation interviews with Dutch officers on violent events and field work observations of police‐civilian interactions, findings show that officers argue they sense opportunities through an awareness of civilian distraction. To create opportunities for actions that enable gaining control, they refocus civilians' attention. Officers do this by acting in ways a civilian does not readily anticipate through bodily spatial positioning and by using material objects, what I refer to as “positional play.” By detailing how officers act upon momentum, I illustrate that embodied sense‐making and attunement toward serendipitous circumstances is key for police action. The article enriches interactionist scholarship by showing the mise en scène of how the police realize control on an embodied level.

A Review of Ugo Corte, Dangerous Fun: The Social Lives of Big Wave Surfers. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 2022, 272 pp.

This ethnographic study of big wave surfing in WaimeaBay in Hawai’i by the Italian sociologist Ugo Corte discovers how this extreme sport involving risk-taking activity is performed interactively. The data from observations and interviews are interpreted in terms of the theory of interaction ritual, which claims that the key to understanding these group activities is the notion of emotional energy generated as result of the social interaction. Unlike his predecessors Еrving Goffman and Randall Collins, Ugo Corte does not proceed from theory, but from his empirical material, for the interpretation of which he uses comparisons with somewhat similar phenomena from different fields, from other sports to creative industries. However, the book’s theoretical framework is Collins’s thesis on affect as a driving force of social order, from which the ideas emerge about how the focus of emotion and attention in joint activity generates group solidarity. The book illustrates how a sociologist and anthropologist can address the issues of risk and danger, and also shows the ways in which modern interactionist sociology, armed with post-Goffmanian tools, is developing.

David R. Maines: Embedding Symbolic Interactionism at the Heart of Sociology

David R. Maines was a key founder of the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction, and a champion of symbolic interactionist sociology. Maines fought against characterizations of symbolic interactionism as astructural and “subjectivist.” He was adamant that symbolic interactionism offered vital perspectives on the study of social structure and organization, and that it was compatible with a variety of research methods. He played a vital role in developing narrative sociology and bringing narrative scholarship from communication studies to sociological audiences. In this retrospective on his life and career, I detail what Maines saw as the five central features of symbolic interactionism: (1) interpretation and meaning, (2) communication, (3) temporality and process, (4) agency, and (5) dialectical thinking. I then examine four interrelated themes of Maines' sociological contributions: (1) temporality, (2) debunking myths about interactionism, (3) mesostructure, and (4) narrative sociology. A video abstract is available at https://youtu.be/YodjvXbo51Q.

Judges and lawyers at school: interactionist sociology of legal education

Judges and lawyers at school: interactionist sociology of legal education

From Zhiqing to “Mothers of Tongzhi Children”: Linkages

This paper mobilises interactionist sociology to explore the biographies and moral careers of two former zhiqing who emerged, circa 2007, as well-known mother figures in a dynamic tongzhi blogosphere. Their encounter with young tongzhi inaugurated parental advocacy for their sexually nonconforming children in China. By anchoring tongzhi activism in contemporary Chinese history and reconstructing two parallel processes of activist-becoming, this paper seeks to better understand how political agency emerged in an authoritarian setting while making a case for studying activism as historicised meaning-making activities.

Comprendre l’activité physique dans la maladie chronique : proposition d’un cadre théorique d’analyse

The positive effects of adapted physical activity (PA) in patients with chronic illness are scientifically recognized, and PA promotion is part and parcel of public policy. In this context, one task in public health research consists in improving knowledge of PA practice in persons with chronic illnesses. As a complement to studies evaluating the importance of various determinants of PA practice, qualitative research is called for. In this framework, the present article will propose a theoretical analytical framework for study of PA in chronic illness. It will be built around two key concepts, namely the “standards of life” drawn from the notion of health in the philosophy of Georges Canguilhem and the “illness trajectory” drawn from the interactionist sociology of Anselm Strauss. We will attempt to improve understanding of the important yet frangible “labor” of patients at work in transformation of their habits and life standards involving PA professionals.

A sociological view on Sartre’s “Érostrate” and deviance

This article explores Jean‐Paul Sartre’s short story “Érostrate,” in Le mur (1939), through sociology—an area of inquiry he apparently neglected or so misjudged by the critique, at least until Critique de la raison dialectique (1960). However, his early fictions are infused with perceptive views of selfhood creation and role relationships that present intriguing avenues with interactionist sociology and staged socialization. Role models opted for by Sartre’s antihero, Paul Hilbert, stem from publicized faits‐divers (“news items”) and the dark perpetrator from Antiquity, Erostratus. The study goal is aimed at existential situations anticipated in Sartre’s interwar writings and later theorized by Erving Goffman and Anthony Giddens. It is directed toward the comprehension of deviant individuals who resort to violence for life resolution and public attention.

The sociological implications of taking self-injury as a practice: an author meets critic interview

Baptiste Brossard’s 2018 monograph, Why Do We Hurt Ourselves? Understanding Self-Harm in Social Life, reports on his 2006–2011 PhD research into non-suicidal self-injury in France and Canada. Brosssard advances two main arguments: first, that self-injury is a practice of self-control used to preserve the interaction order, and second, that self-injury is a technique of social positioning used to manage a sense of pressure or distress that may be internalized and psychologized, but which is essentially social in origin. In this interview, Peter Steggals talks to Brossard about these themes, taking as their departure point the idea of framing self-injury as a form of practice, rather than an expression of illness. Through this discussion, Brossard uses an interactionist sociology of deviance and Bourdieu’s theory of practice to formulate a sociological version of the affect regulation or ‘pressure-cooker’ theory of self-injury. People who self-injure find themselves in certain social configurations, often family configurations, that encourage them to manage their emotions discretely. The idea of expressing their true feelings is associated with a threat to the interaction order, and the anxiety provoked by the possibility of such a face-losing event is what motivates them to vent off their feelings through private practices like self-injury.

The Long and Short Arms of the State: Swedish Multidirectional Controls of Afghan Asylum Seekers During the Cold War

AbstractDrawing on unique sources from the Swedish Migration Agency Archive, this article examines how Afghan asylum seekers and refugees fared in their encounter with Swedish internal and external controls of people seeking protection from persecution during the Cold War. Within a theoretical framework that draws on the concept of statist logic, the history of refugeehood, interactionist sociology and critical legal studies, two key findings are presented and discussed. First, Afghan refugees and asylum seekers encountered multidirectional restrictive control measures despite Sweden’s strong support of Afghan refugees in Pakistan, and despite the low numbers of Afghan asylum applicants in Sweden. Second, a focus on how immigration controls affected one specific national group reveals a broader pattern of how internal and external controls of asylum seekers in the 1980s, under the aegis of the Swedish state, were distributed between state, non-state and international organizations. The article provides a critical history that sheds new light on the situation following the ‘refugee crisis’ of 2015–16, when over 40,000 Afghan asylum seekers entered Sweden. In doing so, the article ties in to a burgeoning development within refugee studies that seeks to include a historical perspective, since such an inclusion is necessary to identify continuities and changes that remain highly relevant for understanding, assessing and offering real alternatives to today’s dominant approaches to refugee governance, policy, experiences, social and political practices and discourses.

Making Sense of Family Deaths in Urban Senegal: Diversities, Contexts, and Comparisons

Despite calls for cross-cultural research, Minority world perspectives still dominate death and bereavement studies, emphasizing individualized emotions and neglecting contextual diversities. In research concerned with contemporary African societies, on the other hand, death and loss are generally subsumed within concerns about AIDS or poverty, with little attention paid to the emotional and personal significance of a death. Here, we draw on interactionist sociology to present major themes from a qualitative study of family deaths in urban Senegal, theoretically framed through the duality of meanings-in-context. Such themes included family and community as support and motivation; religious beliefs and practices as frameworks for solace and (regulatory) meaning; and material circumstances as these are intrinsically bound up with emotions. Although we identify the experience of (embodied, emotional) pain as a common response across Minority and Majority worlds, we also explore significant divergencies, varying according to localized contexts and broader power dynamics.

Objectivation practices

Linkages between the early interactionist sociology of Simmel and Garfinkel’s ethnomethodology are explored, using illustrations drawn from the author’s research on coffee tasting, the debates of Tibetan scholar-monks, and players of board games. Garfinkel’s inquiries into the neglected objectivity of social facts are specified with concrete illustrations, and a model is developed to guide the investigation of some seminal topics in ethnomethodology. Discounting rational choice theory, voluntarism, and individualist models, this study offers an account of the objectivation practices that parties routinely employ when they collaborate in setting up an orderliness for their local affairs.

How do general practitioners promote a more equitable access for patient education?

Our research is designed to understand how and under what conditions general practitioners contribute to equitable access to patient education (PE).We conducted a survey based on interactionist sociology in a sample of 32 doctors. These practitioners worked in the context of health networks and health care centres and were also involved in the PE resource centre for the Île-de-France region, thereby providing a favourable setting for our study, also reflected by the fact that one-half of practitioners were aware of the importance of or had been trained in PE.Doctors stress that their engagement in the patient-doctor relationship does not depend on the patient's psycho-social characteristics. Their educational practice nevertheless appears to be influenced by their a priori judgement of these characteristics. Based on their judgement, some clinicians develop practices that seem to promote better access for their socially underprivileged patients. This process is facilitated by several dynamics described in this article.The results of this research open up opportunities for office-based physicians and PE development structures to facilitate better access to PE for all patients.

Gramáticas emocionais e submissão à autoridade: interações entre fiscais e cidadãos em revistas de malas em aeroportos

Este artigo aborda as gramáticas emocionais suscitadas por experiências de submissão à autoridade. A perspectiva teórica adotada é a sociologia interacionista, em particular a relação entre poder/status/autoridade e a emergência de sentimentos específicos discutida por Theodore Kemper e a análise da vergonha proposta por Thomas Scheff. O objeto analisado é a revista de malas em aeroportos, entendida como uma “cena interacional”. A metodologia utilizada é a entrevista em profundidade com cidadãos do Rio de Janeiro que passaram por essa experiência. A análise aborda os sentimentos de vergonha e humilhação relatados e procura relacioná-los com matrizes conceituais de ordem macro dedicadas à interpretação do lugar da lei na sociedade brasileira.

Between Situations: Anticipation, Rhythms, and the Theory of Interaction

This article pushes interactionist sociology forward. It does so by drawing out the implications of a simple idea, that to understand the situation—the mise en scene of interactionist theory—we must understand it in relation not only to past-induced habits of thought and action but to future situations anticipated in interaction. Focusing especially on the rhythmic nature of situations, the paper then argues that such a recalibration both unsettles core tenets of interactionism and helps solve some problems in the sociology of culture. As an illustration, it focuses on two such puzzles—the place of disruption in interaction and the relationship between the notion of “boundaries” and of “distinctions” in the sociology of culture.

Pain assessment by emergency nurses at triage in the emergency department: A qualitative study

To investigate the assessment of pain intensity in the specific context of triage. Acute pain affects most patients admitted to emergency departments, but pain relief in this setting remains insufficient. Evaluation of pain and its treatment at the time of patient triage expedites the administration of analgesia, but may be awkward at this time-pressured moment. The assessment of pain intensity by a validated pain scale is a critical initial step, and a patient's self-reporting is widely considered as the key to effective pain management. According to good practice guidelines, clinicians must accept a patient's statement, regardless of their own opinions. A qualitative methodology rooted in interactionist sociology and on the Grounded theory was used to provide an opportunity to uncover complex decision-making processes, such as those involved in assessing pain. A sociologist conducted semi-structured interviews during the 2013-2014 winter months with twelve nurses and trained in the use of an established protocol, focusing on the assessment of pain intensity. The interviews were recorded, fully transcribed and analysed. The most frequently used pain scale was the Verbal Numerical Rating Scale. Discrepancies between self-assessment and evaluation by a nurse were common. To restore congruence between the two, nurses used various tactics, such as using different definitions of the high-end anchor of the scale, providing additional explanations about the scale, or using abnormal vital signs or the acceptance of morphine as a proof of the validity of severe pain ratings. Nurses cannot easily suspend their own judgement. Their tactics do not express a lack of professionalism, but are consistent with the logic of professional intervention. This article presents triage nurses' reality in a time-pressured environment, and understanding this conflict may outline new educational targets to further improve pain management in ED.

Extended Mind and Embodied Social Psychology: Contemporary Perspectives

This study traces the evolution of a research program that frames the human mind as an embodied social phenomenon. The essay is divided into two parts, the first one focused on historical issues, the second on contemporary developments. The discussion begins with the mind-body problem central to the scholarship in this area and then focuses the changing perspective on consciousness as a symbolically mediated process. Next, the paper surveys the relevant writings of Mead and Vygotsky, tracks the debate about the place of body in interactionist sociology, and connects this debate to current research in neuroscience. The report concludes with reflections on the prospects for embodied sociology and the contribution it can make to the debate about extended mind.

Extended Mind and Embodied Social Psychology: Historical Perspectives

This study traces the evolution of a research program that frames the human mind as an embodied social phenomenon. The essay is divided into two parts, the first one focused on historical issues, the second on contemporary developments. The discussion begins with the mind-body problem central to the scholarship in this area and then focuses the changing perspective on consciousness as a symbolically mediated process. Next, the paper surveys the relevant writings of Mead and Vygotsky, tracks the debate about the place of body in interactionist sociology, and connects this debate to current research in neuroscience. The report concludes with reflections on the prospects for embodied sociology and the contribution it can make to the debate about extended mind.

Digital absolution

Based on online observation of communication in a web-based weight loss forum, this article identifies the relevance of confession and absolution as characteristics of online interactions. Our close study of forum messages, arranged as web diaries open to comments from participants, shows that self-blaming posts elicited absolutional replies. With a primary interest in those personal posts which had a confessional character, we identified three aspects of absolution in replies: collective, prospective and supportive. Of special sociological interest is how online interaction in the forum challenges the concept of ‘civil inattention’ (Goffman, 1971) as a basic social norm for interaction in public spaces. Rather, absolutional attention defines the interactional order within the forum, in which diary authors receive feedback on their accounts of challenges, problems and failures. Studying online communication in detail may contribute to an important theoretical refinement of interactionist sociology, which currently strongly rests on studies from pre-Internet times.

Comment articuler les sciences de la vie et les sciences sociales à propos des relations humains / animaux ? Un modèle interactionniste et évolutionniste

Le modèle développé dans cet article vise à éclairer les relations interspécifiques en articulant les vues proposées dans la sociologie interactionniste, d’une part, et l’éthologie – et plus largement les sciences du comportement –, d’autre part. Ce modèle est centré sur l’interaction sociale et ses effets. Il repose sur l’idée selon laquelle la condition minimale de l’existence de faits sociaux et culturels n’est pas une identité partagée – de représentations, de comportements, d’une capacité à lire les intentions d’autrui, à imiter, à manipuler des symboles, ou encore une compréhension ou un sens communs. C’est une condition beaucoup moins restrictive : la possibilité d’ajustement pratique entre deux êtres au cours de leurs interactions – condition qui peut être réalisée entre deux êtres très différents. Un tel modèle fait ressortir avec acuité de nombreux phénomènes produits par les interactions – et tout particulièrement les interactions interspécifiques – qui échappent nécessairement aux perspectives appuyées sur les différentes déclinaisons du principe d’identité, en particulier celles qui restreignent le social learning à un mécanisme de copie – d’imitation. Pour illustrer ce modèle, nous nous appuierons sur l’étude des relations que les humains entretiennent avec deux espèces : les chiens et les macaques de Barbarie.

Conversion Strategies and the Power to Define: British and American Muslim Performance in Bourdieu's Field of Art

When a number of Muslims in non-Muslim majority countries in North America and Western Europe gained attention as upcoming performers in the genres of hip-hop, stand-up comedy and performing poetry in the last decades, this was perceived as a remarkable phenomenon by public media and social scientists. Firstly, a lot of these performers bring Islam to the fore in their artistic expressions in the public domain, whereas, secondly, the relation between art and Islam is perceived as troublesome at various social levels. While gaining visibility after the multiple terrorist attacks, the phenomenon of entertaining Muslims is often understood as an expression of post-Islamism, the attitude of tolerance in Islamism that synthesizes contrasting opinions. Expressions of Muslims are explained as “purposeful art” and the performing arts as a repertoire to diffuse (positive) Islamic values. To comprehend the complex manifestations of religion in modern day societies as reflected by these trends, existing social perspectives are now no longer considered satisfactory. The forthcoming paper examines if the perspectives of symbolic interactionist, process and relational sociology are indeed insufficient to discuss and explain several significant understandings of Muslims, their practices and discourse regarding (popular) art. Do all of these artists equally pursue art with a social purpose? Are Islamic authoritative voices significant to everyone? Or do the artists follow wayward conversion strategies in order to achieve their objectives and become established?