ABSTRACT
The strength of symbolic interactionist studies is the study of ‘small’ social worlds. Others see this strength as a weakness because, they argue, there is too much of a concern with describing and understanding the social life of ‘small’ groups, without paying sufficient attention to the wider context of power relations shaping society and larger societal transformations. Though, this is a stereotypical representation of symbolic interactionism, there is a grain of truth in this claim, as symbolic interactionist studies do tend to focus on the micro level of society. This chapter focuses on cultural criminology as a possible inspiration for symbolic interactionism, as it has been able to focus on ‘small’ social worlds while relating these to a wider societal context. In doing this it concentrates on (a) power, specifically the working of institutions of social control; and (b) culture, that is how people given meanings to their social world, and how this is shaped by digital communication. In its integrated critical and cultural approach, cultural criminology has been developing a set of core concepts, such as ‘transgression’, ‘marginalisation’, ‘resistance’ and ‘media’ in late modernity, which can be an impetus for symbolic interactionism.
