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Summary What is Social Constructionism?
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Summary of the key points from pages 1-5 of chapter 1 of Vivien Burr's textbook Social Constructionism (2015) - basic/ key points covered with few examples.
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Social Constructionism – Vivien Burr (2015)What is Social Constructionism (pages 1 – 5):
Social constructionism can be thought of as a theoretical orientation which
underpins most newer approaches to psychology
Is there a definition of social constructionism?
There is no one feature that could be said to identify a social constructionist
approach, it is instead an amalgamation of the following four key concepts
1. A critical stance towards taken for granted knowledge:
Challenges the view that conventional knowledge is based on unbiased
observations of the world
Needs us to be ever suspicious of our assumptions about the world around us
2. Historical and cultural specificity:
Our social divisions and pre-existing notions depend completely upon where
and when we live
All understandings are not only relative to, but created by culture and history
This idea challenges all scientific progress made towards a more accurate
picture of the physical/ psychological world
3. Knowledge is sustained by social progress:
Our knowledge of the world is constructed between people
Our social interactions are when our shared knowledge is constructed
4. Knowledge and social action go together:
Each different construction of an event prompts a different kind of human
reaction
Constructions of the world sustain some patterns of these human reactions
and excludes others
These reactions are also bound alongside power – what is permissible?
E.g., A drunkard in the past would have been punished for their actions whilst
intoxicated, however more recently we as a society have constructed the
idea that the alcohol is the problem and that the drunkard is a victim of an
addiction to a toxic substance. And so instead of punishing the drunk as we
used to, we instead offer them sympathy and help to treat the addiction.
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