Social Action vs. Social Structure

A way to examine this statement is to use the theme of unemployment. The unemployed are in a vicious circle of financial problems: they can’t get a job because they haven’t got the training. They can’t get the training because they have no money; therefore they need a job to get money to get training to get a job.

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Possibly the system can be called unfair, it is a fair comment, but it can be taken back to the individuals school life.

They could have been a mis-behaving student in a low set, or a mis-behaving student who is very able, yet due to their behaviour failed certain tests (i.e. 11+) and was sent to a secondary modern or technical school which are not as reliable of releasing students with top grades as say, a public or grammar school is. This can all be related to the individuals class placing.

Laziness can also be a factor in the issue of unemployment.

People may have the qualifications and training to get a job, but they have a “can’t be bothered” issue running around inside their heads.

Another way to look at the Puppets of Society idea is the monetary system. We created the system, but we can also stop using it, thus leading to is abandonment, another example: if no one watched ITV, the channel would have to close down – no funding from advertisers etc.

The social action theory about Puppets of Society is that social action perspectives such as interactions are more interested in people’s behaviour in small groups, relationships within a individual classroom rather than the education system as a whole, for example.

This is known as micro sociology.

In social action, we select our behaviour on the basis of the situation, e.g. At a party, you adapt accordingly to what kind of people are there, how they are acting, what’s going on in each room etc.

The social action perspective is that we influence our own behaviour.

The social structure theory is that we are controlled into doing certain things because society as a whole expects us to conform in that way.

The social structure perspective is that our actions are controlled by what society expects of us.

We are both the puppets and puppeteers in society. We make our own decisions, both for our own benefit and also to conform with the world around us.