Symbolic Interactionist Approach Research Articles

Empowering pandemic pivots: the inclusive power of remote work and school

ABSTRACT We examine the transitions to remote work and education as unplanned large-scale social experiments in critical institutions that were rapidly digitized in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. As the long tail of the pandemic continues, going remote continues to impact marginalized populations in unexpectedly positive ways and meet needs that are invisible to dominant populations. Therefore, we make the case for remote work and school as new frontiers in digital inclusion with particular benefit to traditionally underrepresented groups. We use Symbolic Interactionist approaches drawing on Hochschild’s emotion work and Goffman’s impression management and stigma to reveal interactional mechanisms through which digital communication modalities offer a way to circumvent some of the deleterious aspects of face-to-face social interaction that occur in these institutional spheres. Digital interaction tools facilitate flexibility and greater control of impression management to avoid stigma among workers and students who are most at risk of being marginalized or harmed in face-to-face institutionally embedded interactions. Thus, both remote work and school can supply new avenues for institutional inclusion of particular value for those who suffer the most from bias, stigma, and/or discrimination in face-to-face institutional settings governed by norms that were built by those with privilege to serve and replicate their privilege. Finally, we call attention to the ways that going remote is being resisted as older forms of social control reemerge, as well as to how remote workers and students are increasingly subjected to digital surveillance tools that extend Foucault’s concept of the panopticon into the digital realm.

Unraveling substance abuse among Malawian street children: A qualitative exploration.

This qualitative study adopts a phenomenological and symbolic interactionist approach to comprehensively explore substance abuse among street children in Lilongwe, Malawi. The research aims to uncover the complex sociocultural, economic, and environmental determinants influencing substance abuse within this marginalized cohort. Through in-depth semi-structured interviews, the study engages with street children to understand their subjective experiences, perceptions, and interpretations of substance abuse within their community context. Employing convenience, purposive, and snowball sampling strategies, the research collected data from street children, acknowledging their transient nature and societal challenges. Thematic analysis was conducted on interview transcripts to derive comprehensive insights. Results revealed five key thematic areas: familial absence and emotional void, societal normalization and peer pressure, economic hardships, coping mechanisms, environmental accessibility, and peer influence and belongingness. These themes highlighted the intricate interplay between personal experiences, socio-environmental factors, and peer dynamics, shaping the prevalence and persistence of substance abuse among street children. This study's implications for practice underscore the need for tailored interventions and support mechanisms addressing substance abuse within this demographic. It emphasizes the urgency for context-specific strategies and policy formulations aimed at ameliorating the challenges faced by street children dealing with substance abuse in Malawi. Ultimately, this research contributes to a deeper understanding of substance abuse among marginalized street children, advocating for compassionate and contextually sensitive interventions within this overlooked drug abusers' population subset.

Revealing the Motives Behind Executive and Legislative “Interests” in the Discussion Process and Determination of the Budget Regional Revenue and Expenditures (APBD)

Purpose: This interpretive case study delves into the dynamics of executive and legislative interactions in the determination of Regional Revenue and Expenditures (APBD), aiming to understand the underlying motives driving their actions. Theoretical Reference: Drawing on Siegel and Marconi's theory, which emphasizes the influence of individual perspectives on budget figures, this study employs symbolic interactionism to explore the behavior and motivations of the Executive and Legislative branches in the APBD process. Method: Qualitative research is conducted, employing a symbolic interactionism approach to analyze the behavior and discourse of the Executive and Legislative branches during APBD discussions. Results and Conclusion: The study reveals that despite public rhetoric emphasizing performance-oriented budgeting, traditional practices still largely dictate APBD discussions, hindered by a prevailing paternalistic culture and elite commitments. Conflicts between the branches often arise, delaying APBD approval. The findings suggest a phenomenon of Budgetary Mutualism, where both branches engage in strategic maneuvers to secure mutually beneficial gains while maintaining a facade of harmony. However, underlying this facade is a reality of hypocrisy, where public rhetoric masks conflicting interests and power dynamics. Implications of Research: This research sheds light on the complexities of APBD determination, highlighting the need to address underlying power dynamics and conflicting interests between the Executive and Legislative branches. Understanding these dynamics is crucial for reform efforts aiming to improve budgetary processes and governance. Originality/Value: By applying symbolic interactionism to analyze APBD dynamics, this study offers a novel perspective on the behavior and motivations of government actors in budgetary processes. The identification of Budgetary Mutualism and the revelation of underlying hypocrisy contribute to a deeper understanding of governance dynamics.

Symbolic Interactionist Communication of Interreligious Figures in Managing Religious Diversity

This research aims to dissect interfaith figures’ symbolic interactionist communication approach in managing religious diversity. Using qualitative ethnographic research, data collection methods in the research used interviews, observation, and documentation. Listed as key informants were ten interfaith figures who were members of the Pekalongan City Religious Harmony Forum (FKUB). The research results show that interfaith figures in Pekalongan City use a symbolic interactionist communication approach in managing religious diversity in Pekalongan City. Among the forms of Symbolic Interactionism are symbols, gestures, language, rituals, education, and intercultural dialogue. The symbolic interactionism approach is also used to support the process of institutionalizing multicultural values which are the foundation for realizing religious harmony in Pekalongan City.

Navigating interprofessional boundaries: Midwifery students in Canada

The literature on professional socialization focuses on how students adopt and internalize professional identities and values, and assumes that boundary work is essential to learning how best to practice their profession. However, a focus on boundary work in the context of midwifery training - which is embedded in the gendered and hierarchical landscape of maternity care - is lacking. Thus, this article examines how Canadian student-midwives learn to navigate and negotiate interprofessional boundaries. Grounded in a symbolic interactionist approach, it draws on 31 semi-structured qualitative interviews from a mixed-methods national study on midwifery retention, explores how midwifery students make sense of the tensions among midwives, physicians, and nurses, and describes what strategies they utilize when navigating boundaries. Our analysis, based in constructivist grounded theory, revealed that participants learned about interprofessional tensions in clinical placement encounters via direct or indirect interactions with other healthcare professionals, and that strategies to navigate these tensions included educating others about midwifery training and adopting a learner identity. This article proposes that the process of professional socialization enables to reshape professional boundaries and that students are not only learners but also agents of change. These findings may yield practical applications in health education by highlighting opportunities for improving interprofessional collaborations.

Theorizing network diplomacy on Twitter: a symbolic interactionist approach

Theorizing network diplomacy on Twitter: a symbolic interactionist approach

Akuntansi Hak dan Kewajiban: Refleksi Akuntansi Nelayan Juragan Muslim di Kawasan Teluk Tomini

This research aims to reveal the meaning of accounting for muslim skipper fishermen in the tomini bay area. Symbolic interactionism is the research method used in this research. The symbolic interactionist approach is also used as a data collection technique as well as a unit of analysis. The data used are (1) the results of interviews with the boat owner as ship owners and retainers (2) results of observations of fishermen's activities and interactions with crew members and their environment (3) documents such as worksheets and financial reports. This research determines that there is a mutual need for interaction between the boat owner and the captain or crew member. Boat owner who has the right to share business profits fairly to the crew in the form of transparent accounting records and crew members who have the obligation to carry out their responsibilities to the boat owner.

Social construction of places as meaningful objects: a symbolic interactionist approach

ABSTRACT Places play a crucial role in the formation of both individual and collective identities. This article seeks to specify how a collective identity is constructed and sustained on the basis of the emotional bonds that the members of the group grow to the place. Drawing on the basic tenets of symbolic interactionism, the article argues that in order to function as the foundation of a group identity, a place needs to be perceived as a meaningful object of particular value. Furthermore, the article argues that the meaningfulness of the place occurs through the articulation of a narrative of uniqueness, that, drawing on the bulk of shared place-related life experiences, celebrates the special character of the place in question and shores up its unique meaning and value.

The post-surgical transition in adolescents who have idiopathic scoliosis. A qualitative study

ObjectiveTo know the process experienced by adolescents suffering from idiopathic scoliosis when undergoing surgery to correct the physical deformity. MethodQualitative study with a symbolic interactionism approach. 22 semi-structured interviews were conducted with adolescents who underwent posterior spinal fusion in a third-level hospital in Madrid between May 2019 and January 2021. Taylor and Bogdan’s analysis in progress was carried out. ResultsPatients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis present with a complex simultaneous health/illness and developmental transition. The main inhibitory conditions of the transition are the meanings about: their identity, social, beliefs about surgery, ignorance about the pathology, the surgical process, and their recovery. As facilitating conditions, we find: a positive attitude towards physical, aesthetic, and social change, socioeconomic level, and family support. ConclusionsThe informants of this study refer that aesthetic affectation and physical limitations are the main elements that cause them discomfort. Surgical intervention is presented as the solution to this situation. Recovery is a critical point in the transition process mainly due to pain. They accept the discomfort suffered during the recovery because they hope to obtain an improvement in the image and physical limitations. The changes and differences they experience during the transition make them think that they will be able to lead a «normal life» to which they constantly refer in their speeches.

Social memory and the impact of commemorative remedies ordered by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights

AbstractSocial memory studies start from the premise that people acquire their memories not only through individual means, but through social processes as well. Social groups often provide materials for memory, and prod individuals into recalling particular events. One of the distinctive differences between the practice of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) concerns memory-related remedies. While the IACtHR quite frequently orders respondent states to commemorate grave violations of human rights (including the construction of monuments), the ECtHR has refrained from granting such commemorative remedies. Some organizations representing victims have called upon additional tribunals to embrace the IACtHR’s remedial approach to address grave breaches of international law. Drawing on social memory scholarship, this study is aimed at empirically assessing the impact of four sites of memory in Colombia established by order of the IACtHR. The study’s findings suggest that international tribunals alone cannot shape collective memories that are inconsistent with sociocultural features characterizing the local society. On the other hand, judicially-ordered sites of memory are meaningful for the victims’ families and small-scale social units. These findings turn our attention to micro-level sociological perspectives, and particularly to the symbolic-interactionist approach to international law, highlighting the vital symbolic role of international tribunals for individuals and small social units. The valuable role of such memorial sites for the victims’ relatives and related communities suggests that international tribunals addressing grave human rights violations should consider granting commemorative remedies.

English proficiency as a performance of digital social capital: understanding how Chinese study abroad students use WeChat for the symbolic purpose of English language learning

This study investigates how Chinese study abroad students utilize WeChat for the symbolic purpose of English language learning while exploring what particular features of WeChat are beneficial to one’s English learning. It also explores how English proficiency acts as a form of digital social capital in China, with a particular focus on how WeChat acts as a stage from which users can perform their perceived higher-social class. By deploying a symbolic interactionist approach and conceptualizing an appropriate theoretical framework, this study aims to determine whether students fully engage with WeChat’s symbolic meaning as an English learning tool. Qualitative methods of research consisting of semi-structured interviews and a walkthrough of WeChat are carried out which investigates how English learning features are accessed on WeChat and how they ultimately shape learners’ symbolic meanings of WeChat. It is found that performing high English proficiency on WeChat is associated with negative connotations (bragging) due to links between English level and class background. Moreover, factors such as filial piety prevented users from performing their English proficiency and fully engaging with WeChat as a learning tool also.

#Preeclampsiasurvivor and symbolic interactionism in women’s maternal health

A hypertensive disorder of pregnancy and leading cause of maternal mortality worldwide, preeclampsia (PE) impacts approximately one in 25 pregnancies. Biomedical researchers continue to look for concrete causes and effective treatments for PE, but the experience of PE—the personal and socially constructed meanings surrounding the condition—remains under-researched. Using a symbolic interactionism approach, we examined Instagram posts accompanying the #preeclampsiasurvivor hashtag during Preeclampsia Awareness Month. Themes emerging from interpretive analysis of 98 posts (160 images) included the role of PE in redefining a woman’s relationship to her body, reifying a woman’s connection to her child, and illuminating the transitive aspects of a childbearing woman’s identity. Additionally, PE survivors turned to Instagram to speak to an imagined, ‘generalized sisterhood’ of women sharing a common set of experiences. Our study is unique in its examination of the lived experiences of PE survivors.

Ojung As A Cultural Tradition of Calling for Rain In Tongas Kulon Village, Probolinggo

This study aims to describe and explain the meaning of communicative messages in the ojung tradition in Tongas Kulon Village, Probolinggo. That the local cultural traditions in Tongas village which are often believed to be a prayer to ask for rain. The ancestral cultural traditions that are still closely believed but cannot be understood in terms of the meaning contained therein. This research method is descriptive qualitative using Symbolic Interactionism approach by George H. Mead, with Snowball Sampling technique was used to determine informants. Data was collected was by means of semi-structured interviews, observation, and documentation, as well as literature review relevant to cultural traditions. The result of this study indicate that the meaning of communicative messages in the ojung tradition in Tongas Kulon Village, Probolinggo by communicating in the form of symbols on devices that have been interpreted, include: (a) a strong and successful personality, (b) purity of heart in oneself each person, (c) human relationship with Nature and God, (d) beauty and honesty. The communicative message conveyed is also an embodiment of prayer to ask for rain, and mercy and to maintain friendship between residents. The moral message contained is that traditions have ancestral cultural values, with people who respect each other’s ancestral culture in the form of their respective beliefs and beliefs about traditions, as well as prayers and hopes that can be answered. And as a forum for closer friendship between people, so as to create a harmonious life among each other.

Experiences and meaning of loneliness beyond age and group identity.

Research into loneliness has focussed on subpopulations, and in particular those defined by age, identifying specific contextual factors contributing to their experiences. We suggest that the 'essence' of loneliness cannot be fully captured by examining a unitary group and argue for broader and diverse sampling to better understand how loneliness is experienced. Informed by a symbolic interactionist approach, this study aims to elucidate experiences and meaning of loneliness among a heterogeneous group of adults. In depth interviews were conducted with a diverse sample of 37 individuals, aged 18-71 years who had experienced loneliness in the UK. Using thematic analysis, four themes were identified: Loneliness as lacking, loneliness as abandonment, lingering loneliness and the unspoken and trivialised experience of loneliness. Our analysis signals the complexity of loneliness did not necessarily conform to one-dimensional conceptualisations of the phenomenon. Loneliness is linked to interpersonal relationships, but also associated with participants' roles and identity within society. Thus, society exacerbates and creates loneliness. Implications for the support and provision of loneliness are also discussed.

Perceived barriers to the movement of goods in Canada: A grounded theory investigation

This paper investigates stakeholder’s perspectives about freight congestion in Canada’s major metropolitan regions. Interviews with 28 Canadian stakeholders from different sectors are analyzed using Strauss/Corbin extended approach of symbolic interactionism with the objective of producing an explanatory theory to identify barriers to freight in Canada. By integrating emergent categories with a structured framework of theoretical propositions, we are able to offer insights to understand the perceived barriers to goods movement in the Canadian landscape, as well as to detail a framework of interventions to improve freight mobility. In total, 50 themes emerged as barriers to the movement of goods, which were grouped into nine subcategories, and four overarching categories which broadly frame the issues of goods movements as relating to high infrastructure utilization (Infrastructure Demand Outstripping Supply), the cost impacts of diminishing reliability of distribution (Physical Distribution Headwinds Impeding Commerce), rapidly growing regions and ineffective or absent policy support (Urgent Regulatory Encumbrances), and a lack of a robust data collection, analysis, and information sharing framework (Information and Data Management Complexities). These categories were considered in the frame of addressing goods movement barriers and were argued to be influenced by factors of cost, political risk, implement-ability, and maintainability. A framework was developed identifying four high-level interventions: data and knowledge mobilization; public-private collaborative freight evaluations; government funding and political support; and, capacity alterations: improvements and expansions. The key concepts of the framework are to collect and analyze data to inform public-private stakeholder evaluations of policy interventions, with government funding to support both knowledge generation efforts, policy actions and capacity investments. There is a significant need to expand data collection and information sharing, focus infrastructure investments on public transit and intermodal accessibility, and integrated policy development towards transportation and land use planning to address the physical and policy barriers affecting freight mobility and congestion. The emergent theory is contrasted with selected global regions to assess generalizability and the relevance of international perspectives to the Canadian environment.

Generic Social Process and the Problem of Success-Claiming: Defining Success on the Margins of Canadian Federal Politics

Envisioning success and its pursuit as an enduring feature of human group life, this paper exam­ines success as a humanly constructed and realized social process. As framed herein, success represents the attribution by some audience of qualities associated with achievement, attainment, and/or accomplishment to social act(s) and/or social objects. Consistent with symbolic interactionist approaches to the study of deviance, success is not a quality of the situation at hand, but rather is audience-dependent. Therefore, while the social construction of success may be evidence-based, what is defined as successful outcomes and what constitutes evidence of success is subculturally located. Drawing on extended ethnographic research, an application of alternate definitions of success is examined in the context of those participating in an electorally unsuccess­ful political party—the Christian Heritage Party of Canada. Specifically, this paper examines the definition of success in terms of political influence, providing political alternatives and demonstrations of religious faithfulness as strategies of success-claiming. Framing success in process terms, this paper examines the trans-contextual and trans-historical qualities of “doing success” as a feature of everyday life.

The Role of Schools in Early Marriage Education and Reproductive Health Rights (Case Study: Students in Wonosobo District)

The role of schools is an important factor in shaping human civilization. The phenomenon of the high number of high school marriages in Wonosobo with all the social changes that surround it, until 2019 marriages under the age of 19 (nineteen) years there were 430 cases including marriage dispensation. The Merried By Accident (MBA) case dominates all of these cases. The focus of this research is the analysis of the role of school in child marriage and women's reproductive rights, two things that influence each other and whether women's reproductive health rights include the right to abortion and to refuse pregnancy which often occurs in society. This study uses qualitative research by conducting in-depth interviews and discussion group forums which are analyzed and described using a symbolic interactionism approach. The results of the study found that there was a shift in the meaning of marriage for high school children, the high number of cases of child marriage was dominated by changes in social behavior and adolescent relationships, so that pregnancy before marriage led to dropping out of school. Women's reproductive health rights are especially not ready to give birth, take care of children so that the life cycle after giving birth to children does not get serious attention, and it is not uncommon for domestic violence (KDRT) to be a way out to solve problems that cause divorce at a young age. The role of schools has not shown significant results because there is almost no curriculum in schools that requires provisions about marriage. The ideal school role is in the form of providing early marriage education and reproductive health, having an effective school fee subsidy, providing regular health services, and motivating students in the spirit of learning at school.

Four ecotourism archetypes: expressing symbolic desires

ABSTRACT Most ecotourism research focuses on logical, expressed desires, while deeper meanings (or symbolic desires), are less well understood, perhaps because elicitation is difficult. Consequently, prior research is relatively limited on the deeper motivations driving ecotourism behaviour. To address that lack, an ethnographic study of nature-based tourism activities in Malaysia and a symbolic interactionist approach is taken to unpack hedonic meaning-making. The data gave rise to four ecotourist archetypes: The champion, the adherent, the acolyte, and the spa-goer, for ecotourists seeking trial, spiritual, learning and purification benefits, respectively. The study provides both greater insight into how to use ethnographic research to elicit symbolic desires in ecotourism, and practitioner support for the design and delivery of more fulfilling nature-based tourism experiences. The archetypes can be viewed as a symbolic benefits-based market segmentation schema, forming the basis for developing more effective targeting, positioning, branding and value propositions for nature-based tourism activities.

Accountability of the "Title" Haj in Bugis Culture: Social Interaction and Self Control

This study aims to find the meaning of accountability for Hajj’s “title” or designation from the perspective of Bugis culture. This study uses an interpretive paradigm with a symbolic interactionism approach. The informants in this study were Bugis people who have fulfilled the pilgrimage which were chosen in purposive manner. The data were analyzed by using the action patterns of the informants, which were obtained through real-life observations, as well as from interviews to understand the responses and interpretations of the informants. The study finds that the “title” of Hajj was interpreted as an action based on social value as well as self-control in behaving in society.

Negotiating mental illness across the lay-professional divide: Role play in peer work consultations.

Patient involvement is a prominent policy aim in modern health care. Today, mental health services employ peer workers (PWs) who have personal experiences with mental illness. Based on 22 interviews with PWs and 26 audio recordings of real‐life consultations, we show how PWs talk about their personal experiences as professional qualifications. Furthermore, we demonstrate how in real‐life encounters, PWs and patients convert personal experiences into a professional approach through an interactionist role play that balance PWs role as former patients and current professionals. Our analysis shows that PWs combine the personal pronoun ‘I’ (stressing that it is personal) with the indefinite pronoun ‘one’ (referring to generalised patient experiences) when they recount illness experiences. This convey that PWs engage with mental illness as both a personal and professional topic. In addition, the analysis shows that PWs (and patients) use professional clues to manifest PWs’ positions as professionals. Overall, the article demonstrates that instead of focussing on authentic patient relationships, as previous research has done, it is beneficial to investigate peer work from a symbolic interactionist approach revealing how PWs and patients skilfully manoeuvre the contradictions embedded in the PWs’ dual role as former patients and current professionals.