social construction

Examples of social construction in the following topics:

• Social Constructionism

  • Social constructionism is a school of thought introduced into sociology by Peter L.
  • Berger and Thomas Luckmann with their 1966 book The Social Construction of Reality.
  • Socially constructed reality is seen as an on-going dynamic process; reality is re-produced by people acting on their interpretations of what they perceive to be the world external to them.
  • Berger and Luckmann argue that social construction describes both subjective and objective reality - that is that no reality exists outside what is produced and reproduced in social interactions.
  • Religion is seen as a socially constructed concept, the basis for which is rooted in either our psyche (Freud) or man's need to see some purpose in life or worship a higher presence.

• Social Definition of Race

  • Most social scientists and biologists believe race is a social construct affecting sociopolitical, legal, and economic contexts.
  • Most social scientists and biologists believe race is a social construct, meaning it does not have a basis in the natural world but is simply an artificial distinction created by humans.
  • Many academics and researchers across disciplines, therefore, came to the conclusion that race itself is a social construct.
  • As anthropologists and other evolutionary scientists have shifted away from the language of race to the term "population" to talk about genetic differences, historians, cultural anthropologists and other social scientists have accordingly re-conceptualized the term "race" as exclusively a cultural category or social construct.
  • The social construction of race has developed within various legal, economic, and sociopolitical contexts, and may be the effect, rather than the cause of major race-related issues.

• Additional Reading

  • " - This is an article that discusses some recent attempts to illustrate how gender is at least partially socially constructed.

• The Social Construction of Gender

  • Social constructivists propose that there is no inherent truth to gender; it is constructed by social expectations and gender performance.
  • The social construction of gender comes out of the general school of thought entitled social constructionism.
  • Money is a socially constructed reality.
  • Is gender an essential category or a social construct?
  • If it is a social construct, how does it function?

• Gender

  • The World Health Organization defines gender as socially constructed ideas about behaviors, actions, and roles characteristic of each sex.
  • The World Health Organization (WHO) defines gender as the result of socially constructed ideas about the behavior, actions, and roles characteristic of each sex.
  • Gender-related intersections and the crossing of defined gender boundaries are generally unaccounted for in socially constructed notions of gender.

• The Social Construction of Aging

  • The social construction of aging entails the creation of social norms and symbols that encapsulates the aging process.
  • Representations of aging in the social life are determined by different social interactions like getting senior discounts.
  • While aging itself is a biological process, what it means to be "young" or "old" is socially constructed.
  • Aging is perceived differently around the world, demonstrating its social construction.
  • Significantly, these social interactions occur in a social milieu that values youth.

• The Interactionist Perspective

  • According to theorists working in the symbolic interactionist perspective, health and illness are socially constructed.
  • According to theorists working in the symbolic interactionist perspective, health and illness are socially constructed.
  • Symbolic interactionist researchers investigate how people create meaning during social interaction, how they present and construct the self (or "identity"), and how they define situations of co-presence with others.
  • An example of the social construction of health the the Rate of Perceived Exertion, or RPE.
  • Explain and give examples of social constructions of health according to the symbolic interactionist perspective

• Mental Health

  • Mental health is a socially constructed and socially defined concept; different societies, groups, cultures, institutions, and professions have very different ways of conceptualizing its nature and causes, determining what is mentally healthy, and deciding what interventions are appropriate.
  • Members of different social classes often hold different views on mental health.
  • Thus, the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders varies widely by social class.
  • To say that mental health is socially constructed means that its definition and criteria can change across time and culture.
  • Define mental health and explain why it is regarded as a socially constructed concept

• The Symbolic Interactionist Perspective

  • The symbolic interactionist perspective posits that age is socially constructed and determined by symbols resembling social interactions.
  • According to the Symbolic Interactionist Perspective, old age, and aging, are socially constructed and determined by symbols that resemble aging in social interactions.
  • While aging itself is a biological process, the Symbolic Interactionist Perspective posits that the meaning behind being "young" or "old" is socially constructed.
  • Given the socially constructed nature of age, there are certain behaviors that people typically associate with certain age groups as being "appropriate" or "acceptable" .
  • Aging is perceived differently around the world, demonstrating its social construction.

• Socially Constructed Interpretations of Aging

  • While aging, itself, is a bio-social process, the ways people and cultures interpret ages (e.g., "old," "young," "mid-life") and the ways these interpretations are distinguished by varied biological age markers vary dramatically.
  • In societies where lifespans are relatively short (e.g., Chad) or in areas within a given society where violence and / or other means of "early" death are common, one could be considered "old" or "middle-aged" by her mid-twenties, whereas in countries and social settings with longer lifespans (e.g., Japan) and lower levels of "early" death, mid-twenties is still considered young-adulthood.
  • The activities that are expected of one at different ages is also socially constructed and relative to culture.
  • For instance, retirement only became a "universal" American ideal in the post-World War I era, as the growth of Social Security and private pensions dramatically expanded the safety net available to aging workers who were leaving the labor market.
  • While age will eventually take its toll on everyone, the association of vigor with youth is a cultural construct and does not necessarily reflect the reality of biological aging.