Dallas Shooting. Classical Theory Chosen. Symbolic Interactionism

Dallas Shooting
Name:
Instructor:
Course:
Date:
Dallas Shooting
On the fourteenth day of September, Marina Trahan Martinez and Manny Fernandez did a story in the New York Times about a white police officer who shot her neighbor in Dallas. Botham Shem Jean, 26 years old black was shot in his apartment by, Amber R. Guyger – a 30-year-old white female police officer who was off duty. Mr. Jean and the police officer lived in the same unit. Jean came home from his fourteen-hour shift only for the officer to confront him that he had intruded into the building. At the hospital, Mr. Jean was pronounced dead. Jean’s death is a mystery that has angered the residents of Dallas and beyond. The event is the latest and most surprising confrontation between an armed black and a white police officer.
Classical Theory Chosen
Symbolic Interactionism
The theory was formed by Blunner in the year 1969. It explains how humans interact by forming meanings for each other. Blunner’s inspiration for the theory was from the assumption that humans can be best understood practically in their interactive relation to their surroundings. According to the theory, its principles cause conclusions of an individual and their social interaction with the society at large (Altheide, D. L., 2017). Looking at Jean’s shooting case, it is most likely that the white officer had a premeditated picture of her victim as a black. Like in the other cases, it is highly plausible that the white officer had a feeling of supremacy towards Jean. The officer had a preformed perception of Jean as a black and was a racist; she felt no need to interrogate if he lives in the same block.
According to “meaning,” the first principle of symbolic interactionism theory, people act towards others as per the premeditated meanings they give them. The “meaning” principle is the primary aspect of a person’s behavior while language principle offers humans the channel for deducing meanings through symbols. On the other hand “ thought” is more of a mental conversation which requires varied perspectives. Using the three aspects of the theory, one forms self-concept (Altheide, D. L., 2017). According to the theory, individuals use the “looking-glass self.” The officer had racially profiled Mr. Jean as a black. Therefore, she saw no need of holding a rational conversation with him to establish his residence. Further, the formed opinion made the white officer feel superior to Mr. Jean, a “black.”
It is hard to believe the officer’s explanations for this heinous act. Considering that the victim was unarmed, there is no way the public can understand the officer’s justification towards the case. Similarly, the public too has a formed opinion of the case. The fact that the officer who shot Jean is white, most of the blacks see this as racial profiling. So does other human rights activists. This preformed perspective makes no difference from the officer’s actions which were duly prompted by the theory of symbolic interactionism.
Symbolic interactionism theory leads to different meaning thereby, creating a communication crisis among persons. If this crisis is not amicably solv...