Social constructionism is a school of thought that attempts, to varying degrees, to analyze seemingly natural and given phenomena in terms of social constructs. A social construct or social concept is an institutionalized entity or artefact in a social system 'invented' or 'constructed' by participants in a particular culture or society and which exists solely because people agree to behave as if it exists, or agree to follow certain conventional rules (Burr, 1995). Social constructs can include such things as games, money, school grades, titles, governments, universities, corporations and other institutions (Czepczyński,2008).
Social constructions can be described as arising from the institutionalisation of patterns of interaction and meaning in society and leading to a construction of social institutions and institutionalized perspectives and understandings. Therefore, knowledge, or truth here is based on the perception of the participants of the social entity (Hacking, 1999). Kukla (2000) writes that social constructionists hold that reality is constructed through human activity and that members of society together invent the properties of the world. For a social constructionist, reality cannot be discovered as it does not exist prior to its social invention.
According to most social constructionists, social constructions are very much real and are a part of, or sometimes the entirety of, lived reality (Burger and Luckmann, 1966). For example, schools are a socially constructed institution for the purpose of educating – they are accepted by society and thus are integrated into everyday life.
Social constructionists support the following tenets (Burr, 1995):
That a critical stance must be taken towards commonly accepted knowledge.
This means that we should challenge the view that conventional knowledge is based upon objective, unbiased observation of the world. It also means that the categories into which we classify human beings or objects should be critically examined as they do not
necessarily reflect “true” divisions.
That there exists cultural and historical specificity
This is the belief that the ways in which we commonly understand the world, the categories and concepts we use are historically and culturally specific. As an example, Burr states that the accepted methods and standards in which children are brought up and taught today are very different than they were only 50 years ago. An example of this is the working
regulations which today protect a child’s right to concentrate on learning and playing as opposed to spending time in a factory. Even the manner in which parents are advised to bring up their children have changed – more recently apparent through the debate regarding
the appropriateness of striking children as a form of discipline. However, one could argue that although the rights of children could be seen as an example of historical specificity, perhaps the study of human nature has progressed in terms of our understanding of how to increase the length of life, or simply been extended to understand what improves the quality of life. This is simply an evolution in the understanding and acceptance of how to increase and sustain a higher level of health and happiness which produces, in the end, a higher level of productivity which in turn benefits mankind. A positivist could maintain that we are simply narrowing the gap between our understanding and the reality of human nature. Thus the accumulation of historical observation is bringing us closer to understanding the truth in human nature – meaning that there is a truth to be discovered.
Social constructionism holds that all knowledge is not only culturally and historically specific, but is a product of culture and history, dependent on the economic and social conditions prevailing in the culture at the time. Burr continues that particular forms of knowledge found in any culture are artefacts of that particular culture and we should not assume that our ways of understanding are any better (or any nearer the truth) than other ways. Additional tenets put forth by Burr (1995) include:
That knowledge is sustained through social processes
Knowledge is not derived from the nature of the world as it really is, but people construct it between themselves. Interactions in daily life cause the creation of our own knowledge or truth as we perceive it. Therefore, what we regard as truth, or our currently accepted ways of understanding the world is a product of social processes and interactions with others rather than of objective observation of the world.
That knowledge and social action go together
Finally, the accepted understandings of the world can take on a wide variety of forms, and hence there are many social constructions, and each invites a particular attitude or action.
An example used by Burr is the way in which prior to the “temperance movement”
drunkenness was seen as a crime with a resultant prison sentence as the person was seen to be responsible for his own actions. More modern views accept that use and abuse of alcohol can be indicative of a disease of alcoholism which is more effectively treated medically and therapeutically than with a prison sentence. The same holds true for the change in the way patients with mental disabilities are treated. Formerly separated out of society and from others, such treatment has now been determined to be more detrimental to the health of the patient. Hence social constructionists hold that current knowledge dictates the actions of human beings, illustrated here in the examples of bringing up children or treating the mentally or physically ill. In a socially constructed world, the knowledge of how to treat people is a product of social interactions and resultant cultural and historical contexts.
However, it could be argued again that through a more in depth understanding of the human psyche we are gaining a greater insight into what treatments produce better results, and that there is a best way to treat individuals - the “real truth” in medical or psychological terms – and through investigation and observation we are coming closer to that truth.