Situation definition

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In sociology, situation definition denotes the perception of the situation by the acting person; thus: how an actor perceives and interprets the situation in which he is and in which he acts.

The associated theoretical perspective is traced back to the Thomas theorem . The behaviorism had originally introspective ever rejected reports of individuals studied as scientific evidence, but eventually admitted to the verbal reactions to a limited extent. On the other hand, WI Thomas insisted that for a sociological explanation of behavior, it is inevitable to take into account the perception of the situation by the acting people as one of the decisive causal factors.

This basic insight subsequently made a career in American sociology, particularly in symbolic interactionism , which is associated with the names of George Herbert Mead and Herbert Blumer , as well as in the labeling approach of Howard S. Becker .

The concept is more or less incorporated into just about every sociological theory of action these days . Also in the theory of rational decision .

"Every appropriate sociological explanation must take into account the 'meaning' of action and the symbolic mediation of situation 'definitions'. In the natural sciences there is in fact no equivalent for this subjective or interpretative dimension of the 'meaningfulness' of the action of human actors . "

Hartmut Esser speaks of the "logic of the situation" based on Karl Popper's " situation logic", which links the expectations and evaluations of the actor with the alternatives and the conditions in the situation.

swell

  1. ^ Ernest Nagel: The Subjective Nature of Social Subject Matter. In: May Brodbeck, (ed.): Readings in the Philosophy of the Social Sciences. 1st edition New York London 1968. p. 37
  2. ^ WI Thomas, Dorothy Swaine Thomas: The Child in America: Behavior Problems and Programs. Knopf 1928. p. 572
  3. ↑ Hartmut Esser: Everyday Action and Understanding. On the relationship between explanatory and understanding sociology using the example of Alfred Schütz and 'Rational Choice'. JCB Mohr (Paul Siebeck) Tübingen 1991. ISBN 3-16-145834-6 . P. 5.
  4. ↑ Hartmut Esser: Sociology. General basics. Campus Verlag Frankfurt / New York 1993. ISBN 3-593-34960-4 . P. 94

literature

  • Hans Haferkamp: Sociology as the theory of action. Bertelsmann Universitätsverlag, 1972. ISBN 3571090462 .