Social Constructionism Flashcards
positivism
considers knowledge to be measurable and corresponding to the truth
social constructionism
concerned with knowledge being contingent on culture, history and language
constructs
metaphors of lenses/frames that we hold up against our social/personal worlds
what did SC originate from?
postmodernism, which challenges views of modernism as scientific knowledge is constructed and sense-making occurs through linguistic rules
what is SC aligned with?
relativism- reality is dependent on the ways we come to know it
the four tenets of SC
- scepticism
- historically and culturally situated
- language and social interaction
- knowledge is active
scepticism
must be critical and question ‘taken-for-granted’ understandings, as observations are only perceptions and not the true nature of phenomena
historically and culturally situated
knowledge is a social product based on existing frameworks and artefacts of previous societies
our understanding is not the best
language and social interaction
language is sustained through social interaction and provides frames of understandings, as representations and constructions of specific cultures
knowledge is active
different constructions invite different responses, and some are considered to be ‘better’ than others
knowledge dictates power in social relationships
applications of SC
professional socialisation
professional socialisation
the internalisation of practices, norms, values, attitudes, skills, and identities of the profession
an ongoing process done formally and informally
critiques of SC
of death and furniture
meaningless
moral relativism
lack of need for psychology
self-defeating
of death and furniture
some issues go beyond (de)construction
social constructionism argues about the importance of questioning this tacit knowledge.
furniture
objects external to talk; easy targets that avoid the nebulous
death
emblem for the invocation of important values and morality outside of culture.
meaningless
gergen (2009) considers the dark side of postmodernism and the point in fighting equality if everything is a construction
moral relativism
SC seems to tolerate anything and stand for nothing
however, there are multiple ways of thinking about social objects which leads to empowerment and liberation
lack of need for psychology
if human behaviour, experience, and language is a product of SC, then the need for psychology is lost
Despite this, SC does not undermine experience, but sits in parallel to these issues
this allows for consideration of subjective experience and drives
self-defeating
in order to be sceptical, we must forego the foundations of scepticism
if all realities are constructed, how can constructionism be true?
SC exists on the theoretical and metatheoretical level
