Examples. Some examples of social constructs are
countries and money
. It is easier to see how countries could be social constructs than it is to see how money is a social construct. Countries would not exist were it not for human interaction.
Social constructionism is the theory that
people develop knowledge of the world in a social context
, and that much of what we perceive as reality depends on shared assumptions.
Behaviors become crimes through a process of social construction. … Changes in the legal status of a behavior are often brought about by social movements and may entail considerable social conflict. Examples include
the recent controversies over abortion policy and assisted suicide
in the United States.
While the Olympics were covered live throughout the entire event, the
Paralympics
were not seen as important enough for the same live coverage before the initial showing. By separating the Olympics and Paralympics, and thus indicating that one is less valuable than the other, disability is socially constructed.
Social constructs are things that emerge with the shared experiences of a civilization or society. These include
shared knowledge and systems
that are the basis for communication, cooperation, productivity, peaceful coexistence and quality of life.
- Government.
- Race. “Race is not biological…
- Gender.
- Femininity/Masculinity.
- Illness.
- Marriage.
- Family.
- Organized Religions.
Social construct theory says that
humans create constructs in order to make sense of the objective world
. One way humans create social constructs is by structuring what they see and experience into categories.
3 stages of construction.
Externalization, Objectification, & Internalization
. Through interaction, people create a meaning.
Social construction theory is
an interdisciplinary discourse
. Human reality is greatly influenced, understood, and experienced through cultural and social norms. This constructed reality generally sets parameters on notions of biology, gender, and sexuality.
The social construction of difference is a
categorical system used to artificially define people
. … Oppressed people are denied access to opportunities that are granted to those in power simply due to socially constructed labels such as race, gender, sexual orientation, class, age, ability.
The concept of ‘youth offending’ is
a dynamic social construction
– a creation dictated by what society chooses to define as ‘youth’ and ‘offending’ at any given point in time.
Societal crime is defined as
the total number of crimes committed by members of the society
, or as the rate of these crimes. … Other senses of the concept could be envisioned, such as the harm that these crimes cause to society. However, there are reasons to use the concept as defined here.
The Oxford Dictionary of Sociology defines crime in a more complex way: ‘
an offence which goes beyond the personal and into the public sphere
, breaking prohibitory rules or laws, to which legitimate punishments or sanctions are attached, and which requires the intervention of a public authority.
According to the social model of disability, ‘disability’
is socially constructed
. … People with disability are thought to be different to ‘what is normal’or abnormal. ‘Disability’ is seen ‘to be a problem of the individual. From the medical model, a person with disability is in need of being fixed or cured.
How do you classify a disability?
According to the World Health Organization, disability has three dimensions:
Impairment in a person’s body structure or function
, or mental functioning; examples of impairments include loss of a limb, loss of vision or memory loss. Activity limitation, such as difficulty seeing, hearing, walking, or problem solving.
Disability excites interest because disability is
seen as a social problem
i.e. it is seen either in terms of personal tragedy or of blame. Social problems generate public concern and private misery and call for collective action to remedy this (Worsley, 1972).
