Title: Towards Social Constructionism Understanding our social lives
1Towards Social ConstructionismUnderstanding our
social lives
- Sociological and Psychological Theory as Applied
to Social Work
Douglas McCarrick
2Towards Social ConstructionismUnderstanding our
social lives
- Putting social perspectives in context
- Considering role theory
- Examining deviance
- Considering labelling theory
- Introducing discourse
3Social perspectives
- Perspective I The individual
- Psychology the study of the mind the study
of human behaviour - Perspective II Society
- Sociology - the study of social structures,
organisations and institutions - Social construction we are born into certain
situations and as individuals of particular
sexes, ethnic groups, classes, etc.
Perspective III Micro- sociology/social
psychology
4Social perspectives
Perspective III Individuals in social
interactions Role theory Deviance Labelling Mor
al Panics
5Individuality
- How do we think of ourselves?
- How do others think about us?
- George Herbert Mead (1934)
- Having a self means we can think of ourselves as
objects we have the ability to reflect on our
own mental processes. - We learn about ourselves and the social world
through socialisation
The notion of self The notion of reflexivity
6Symbolic interactionism
- Symbolic interactionism describes the peculiar
and distinctive character of interaction as it
takes place between human beings. - The peculiarity consists in the fact human beings
interpret or define each others actions
instead of merely reacting to each others
actions. Their response is not made directly to
the actions of one another but instead is based
on the meaning which they attach to such symbols.
7Symbolic interactionism Role theory
- A successful social encounter requires people to
understand who they are and how they ought to
act in relations to others. They need to
negotiate the definition of the situation. - Role conflict is possible.
- There are typifications people draw on to make
their everyday interactions smooth and
predictable.
- Roles are sets of behaviour with socially agreed
functions and accepted codes of norms - Roles exist independently of the people who play
them
8Individuality and interaction
- How do we think of ourselves?
- How do others think about us?
- Goffman (1959)
- Presentation of Self in Everyday Life
- Stigma
- Discredited and discreditable identities
- Image management
9Labelling theory
- Some groups are more likely to become discredited
than others. - incidence or prevalence are not objective
statistics are socially constructed and not to be
trusted. - Labelling usually involved crude stereotypes
being applied by agents of social control
(police, teachers, etc) - What is normality and who decides?
10Deviance and Labelling Becker 1936
- ..social groups create deviance by creating the
rules whose infraction constitutes deviance, and
by applying these rules to particular people and
labelling them as outsiders
The deviant is one to whom that label has been
successfully applied deviant behaviour is
behaviour people so label.
11Summary deviance and labelling theory
- Deviants are not different to normal people.
- People in society are not labelled as deviant
because of some innate characteristic like bad
genes or bad socialisation. - They are labelled according to the symbolic
interpretations of those supposed characteristics
by other people. - Deviance is a social, not individual,
characteristic. - Some groups are more likely to be labelled than
others. - Labelling theory is not concerned with the causes
of behaviour.
12Moral panic
- a condition, episode, person or group of persons
(who) become defined as a threat to societal
values and interests. - Folk Devils and Moral Panics Cohen S (1972)
- Groups are picked out for special treatment
- They are given a particular identity
- There is an amplification of deviance
- Hall (1978)
13Folk devils Moral panics
Mods Rockers Muggers Welfare scroungers Economic
migrants Too posh to push! Rage!
Fury! berserk riot animals Epidemic
swamping Uproar! Blame - condemn Breakdown
of the family
14Amplification of deviance
Event reported / Issue comes to fore Reported
dramatically Police respond People report more
incidents Police statistics rise Statistics
reported
MORAL PA N I C
15- More moral panics will be generated and.. other
folk devils will be created.. because our society
will continue to generate problems for some of
its members.. and then condemn whatever solution
these groups find. - Cohen, 1972204
Folk devils...
16Limitations of role theory and labelling
- Goffman seems to imagine we live in a world where
people wait to be critical. - Role theory over-simplifies social interaction.
- Labelling romaticises the deviant. Deviants come
across as passive victims, the underdog. - Labelling disregards the origins of deviant
behaviour - Labelling doesnt deal with the issues of power
and interest which shape laws and rules.
17Modernism - Postmoderism
- Modernism
- Enlightenment belief that human beings could be
free and improve their condition through
rationality and progress - Postmodernism
- The Enlightenment focus on universal common bonds
is flawed. Society is characterised by difference
rather than totality. - It is relativist. There are different ways of
knowing. There is no universal truth, no
reality and can be universal progress. There is
change rather than progress.
18Discourse
- Discourse
- We operate with a common set of assumptions about
the nature of reality. They provide the basis for
our conscious knowledge. - Foucault calls these shared sets of ideas
discourses
19Discourse
As we think about discourse - there are questions
as to how a particular view becomes the dominant
view, how some truths become accepted whose
voices are heard and whose are silent.
The media, wittingly or unwittingly, reproduce
the definitions of the powerful. Eldridge,
199765
20Ways of thinking about society
It isnt just the position a person is born to
things change it is also how that person is
construed by society.
- Social construction
- The social structure shapes our individual
biographies our choices are limited by
upbringing, location, sex, ethnicity, income, etc.
- Social constructionism
- How we are perceived by society, how our actions
are construed and the interpretation of the
events with which we are involved are all
produced by a process of discourse. Ideas are
also socially constructed
Symbolic interactionism has to take into account
power structures in society and power in
discourse.
21Understanding social lifeSummary
- Activity summarise the main elements of the
session - Which ideas do you think will be most useful to
you in your social work practice?
22Booklist
- Becker H 1963 Outsiders studies in the sociology
of deviance New York, Anchor - Cohen S 1972 Folk Devils and Moral Panics London,
MacGibbon Kee - Eldridge J 1997 The Mass Media and Power in
Modern Britain Oxford University Press - Hall S et al 1978 Policing the Crisis London,
Macmillan - Goffman E 1959 The Presentation of Self in
Everyday Life New York, Anchor - Mead GH 1934 Mind, Self and Society Chicago,
Chicago University Press
23Symbolic interactionStudent activity
- Blumer
- People react to things on the basis of the
meaning they have for them - These meaning are derived from social interaction
with people - The meanings are handled through the
interpretative process of the person dealing with
the thing he or she encounters - Consider possible differences people might have
in their responses to the following - A swastika
- A beggar in the street
- A gay couple
- The Union Jack
- A run-down inner city housing estate
24IndividualityStudent activity
- George Herbert Mead (1934)
- The self - Having a self means we can think of
ourselves as objects - Reflexivity -we have the ability to reflect on
our own mental processes - How important do you think self-awareness is in
social work? - How important is it for social workers to monitor
their own feelings and reactions?.
25Labelling theoryStudent activity
- Some groups are more likely to become discredited
than others. - Labelling usually involved crude stereotypes
being applied by agents of social control
(police, teachers, etc) - Have you had any experiences of individuals or
groups being labelled? - How did the labelling operate?
- Apply these ideas to the individuals in the case
study. - Which of them is likely to be labelled? Why?
- Who will do the labelling and on what authority?
- What ideas of normality underpin the labelling?
What are the consequences for those labelled?
26Moral panicStudent activity
- Consider the issue of paedophilia.
- What are your views on the subject? How have they
been informed? - How has the phenomenon of paedophilia been
reported? - How might the social reaction to paedophilia be
seen to conform to the model of a moral panic?