September Blog Post

September Blog Post

For the month of September, I have decided to focus my blog post on the idea of Symbolic Interactionism. I found this concept important for many reasons and I chose it in order to better understand how Symbolic Interactionism has altered and shaped my personal life. According to text Symbolic Interactionism “theorizes that the self is a product of the messages it has encountered in past interactions” (Warren, 2014). In other words, who we are today is a result of the things we have experienced and done throughout our youth as we develop our personalities and beliefs. Symbolic Interactionism is the understanding of how the environment around us can have an effect on our lives and shift us for the future.

The situation that I like to look at Symbolic Interactionism in is parenting. I think that an understanding of Symbolic Interactionism can have a major effect on how parent raise their children and, as a result, have a much greater effect on the lives of their children in the future. We see this a lot with morality and religion. Religious individuals will teach their children the importance of the symbol God or Christ, whatever the belief may be, and they will teach their children why this symbol is important to respect. This can eventually lead to the child developing a morality that believes everything should be done in the way their God would want it done, or everything should be done in a way to please their God. This interaction shapes the child’s life and will change the outlook of their future. An understanding of how the symbols we apply to our children’s life can change them for the future will lead to more effective parenting.

I think that Symbolic Interactionism is important to understand and learn about for an abundance of reasons. I believe that the benefits offered by an understanding of how the things we surround ourselves with shape our personality can lead to a more optimistic future. Symbolic Interactionism can also lead to a better understanding of others and a deeper empathy for the things they believe and goals they have. This understanding also creates a community that shares a much greater level of respect and consideration than cultures we may find ourselves in today. 

Sources:

Warren, John T., and Deanna L. Fassett. Communication: a Critical/Cultural Introduction. SAGE Publications, Inc, 2014.