Social constructionism accepts that there is an objective reality. It is
concerned with how knowledge is constructed and understood
. It has therefore an epistemological not an ontological perspective. … It regards the social practices people engage in as the focus of enquiry.
Social constructionism is
a theory of knowledge that holds that characteristics typically thought to be immutable and solely biological
—such as gender, race, class, ability, and sexuality—are products of human definition and interpretation shaped by cultural and historical contexts (Subramaniam 2010).
1.
A process for learning based on sociocultural principles in
which leaners deepen their understandings of a topic through social interaction, dialogue, negotiation of ideas, or other collaborative activities.
:
an idea that has been created and accepted by the people in a society Class distinctions
are a social construct.
Simply put, social constructs do not have inherent meaning. The only meaning they have is the meaning given to them by people. For example, the idea that
pink is for girls and blue is for boys
is an example of a social construct related to gender and the color of items.
The main criticisms levelled against social constructionism can be summarised by its perceived conceptualisation of realism and relativism. It is accused of
being anti-realist
, in denying that knowledge is a direct perception of reality (Craib 1997).
Social stratification refers to
a ranking of people or groups of people within a society
. But the term was defined by the earliest sociologists as something more than the almost universal inequalities that exist in all but the least complex of societies.
3 stages of construction.
Externalization, Objectification, & Internalization
. Through interaction, people create a meaning.
Why Humans Create Constructs
One way humans create social constructs is
by structuring what they see and experience into categories
. For example, they see people with different skin colors and other physical features and “create” the social construct of race.
Social constructionism observes
how the interactions of individuals with their society and the world around them gives meaning to otherwise worthless things and creates the reality of the society
.
| gender role cultural norm | femininity gender norm | masculinity tradition |
|---|
Social construction theory is about how we make sense of things. It assumes that we ‘construct’ mental representations, using collective notions as building blocks. In this view,
happiness is regarded as a social construction
, comparable to notions like ‘beauty’ and ‘fairness’.
Marriage is considered by sociologists to
be a cultural universal
; that is, it exists in some form in all societies. … Because marriage is a social construct, cultural norms and expectations determine what a marriage is and who can marry.
- The notion that women were incapable of performing some of the same jobs as men was a social construct, with no real basis in reality.
- The outdated and awful idea of a person’s worth being based on their race is a social construct, created by humans and with no merit at all.
While cultural definitions of family may be based on blood, marriage, or legal ties, “
families” are socially constructed
and can include cohabitation and other culturally recognized social bonds such as fostering, nurturing, or economic ties.
Gender refers to the characteristics of women, men, girls and boys that are socially constructed. This includes
norms, behaviours and roles
associated with being a woman, man, girl or boy, as well as relationships with each other. As a social construct, gender varies from society to society and can change over time.
