Explain symbolic interactionist theory and include Matsueda's four features of the self and delinquent behavior

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The answer should include the following points:
• Social order as a dynamic process that is the ever-evolving product of an ongoing system of social interaction and communication
• Theory proposes to explain delinquent behavior in terms of self-development mediated by language
• Focus on the process by which shared meanings, behavioral expectations, and reflected appraisals are built up through interaction and applied to behavior
• Matsueda's four features of the self and delinquent behavior are:
o The self is formed by how an individual perceives that others view him or her and thus is rooted in symbolic interaction
o The self is an object that "arises partly endogenously within situations, and partly exogenously from prior situational self being carried over from previous experience"
o The self as an object becomes a process that has been determined by the self at a previous point in time and by prior resolutions of problematic situations
o Delinquent behavior takes place partly because habits are formed and partly because the stable perception of oneself is shaped by the standpoint of others