Interactionist theories focus on non-physical means such as religion, language, and
emotions of expressing culture and guiding our interactions with others in our culture:
what we do is rooted in how we think. Interactionists focus on the role that ideology and
meaning play in creating and interpreting society. They would interpret deviance by
explaining the meaning of tattooing and becoming a tattoo collector. They would also
suggest that people must learn to become deviant through the feelings of affinity,
affiliation, and signification in relation to expressing their own cultural views with others.
Tattoos, are a symbol of behavior that deviates from the norm, but are also a symbol of the
persons’ unique identity that he or she chooses to show to the rest of the world. Tattoos are
the means through which people seek to express individuality in a symbolic way; their
relationship to a deviant subculture is thought of as a symbol of freethinking and can be
spiritual in essence as well.
Conflict theories focus on the thought that people are who they are due to the underlying
tension within different groups. I think that they would view tattoos as a way of showing
which group you are in and further the conflict in your life or to further separate you from
the group in which you have conflicts with. They believe that society is not led by their
desire to be a part of the group, but are led by the force of the leaders in their life to coerce