The Social Construction of Reality

The Social Construction of Reality PDF Author: Peter L. Berger
Publisher: Open Road Media
ISBN: 1453215468
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 313

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Book Description
A watershed event in the field of sociology, this text introduced “a major breakthrough in the sociology of knowledge and sociological theory generally” (George Simpson, American Sociological Review). In this seminal book, Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann examine how knowledge forms and how it is preserved and altered within a society. Unlike earlier theorists and philosophers, Berger and Luckmann go beyond intellectual history and focus on commonsense, everyday knowledge—the proverbs, morals, values, and beliefs shared among ordinary people. When first published in 1966, this systematic, theoretical treatise introduced the term social construction,effectively creating a new thought and transforming Western philosophy.

The Social Construction of Reality

The Social Construction of Reality PDF Author: Peter L. Berger
Publisher: Open Road Media
ISBN: 1453215468
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 313

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Book Description
A watershed event in the field of sociology, this text introduced “a major breakthrough in the sociology of knowledge and sociological theory generally” (George Simpson, American Sociological Review). In this seminal book, Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann examine how knowledge forms and how it is preserved and altered within a society. Unlike earlier theorists and philosophers, Berger and Luckmann go beyond intellectual history and focus on commonsense, everyday knowledge—the proverbs, morals, values, and beliefs shared among ordinary people. When first published in 1966, this systematic, theoretical treatise introduced the term social construction,effectively creating a new thought and transforming Western philosophy.

The Social Construction of What?

The Social Construction of What? PDF Author: Ian Hacking
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674254279
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 272

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Book Description
Lost in the raging debate over the validity of social construction is the question of what, precisely, is being constructed. Facts, gender, quarks, reality? Is it a person? An object? An idea? A theory? Each entails a different notion of social construction, Ian Hacking reminds us. His book explores an array of examples to reveal the deep issues underlying contentious accounts of reality. Especially troublesome in this dispute is the status of the natural sciences, and this is where Hacking finds some of his most telling cases, from the conflict between biological and social approaches to mental illness to vying accounts of current research in sedimentary geology. He looks at the issue of child abuse—very much a reality, though the idea of child abuse is a social product. He also cautiously examines the ways in which advanced research on new weapons influences not the content but the form of science. In conclusion, Hacking comments on the “culture wars” in anthropology, in particular a spat between leading ethnographers over Hawaii and Captain Cook. Written with generosity and gentle wit by one of our most distinguished philosophers of science, this wise book brings a much needed measure of clarity to current arguments about the nature of knowledge.

The Social Construction of the Person

The Social Construction of the Person PDF Author: K.J. Gergen
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1461250765
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 376

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Book Description
This volume grew out of a discussion between the editors at the Society for Experimental Social Psychology meeting in Nashville in 1981. For many years the Society has played a leading role in encouraging rigorous and sophisticated research. Yet, our discussion that day was occupied with what seemed a major problem with this fmely honed tradition; namely, it was preoccupied with "accurate renderings of reality," while generally insensitive to the process by which such renderings are achieved. This tradition presumed that there were "brute facts" to be discovered about human interaction, with little consideration of the social processes through which "factuality" is established. To what degree are accounts of persons constrained by the social process of rendering as opposed to the features of those under scrutiny? This concern with the social process by which persons are constructed was hardly ours alone. In fact, within recent years such concerns have been voiced with steadily increasing clarity across a variety of disciplines. Ethno methodologists were among the first in the social sciences to puncture the taken-for-granted realities of life. Many sociologists of science have also turned their attention to the way social organizations of scientists create the facts necessary to sustain these organizations. Historians of science have entered a similar enterprise in elucidating the social, economic and ideological conditions enabling certain formulations to flourish in the sciences while others are suppressed. Many social anthropologists have also been intrigued by cross-cultural variations in the concept of the human being.

Social Construction and Social Work Practice

Social Construction and Social Work Practice PDF Author: Stanley L Witkin
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780231152464
Category : Social constructionism
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Social construction addresses the cultural factors and social dynamics that give rise to and maintain values and beliefs. Drawing on postmodern philosophies and critical, social, and literary theories, social construction has become an important and influential framework for practice and research within social work and related fields. Embracing inclusivity and multiplicity, social construction provides a framework for knowledge and practice that is particularly congruent with social work values and aims. In this accessible collection, Stanley L Witkin showcases the innovative ways in which social construction may be understood and expressed in practice. He calls on experienced practitioner-scholars to share their personal accounts of interpreting and applying social constructionist ideas in different settings (such as child welfare agencies, schools, and the courts) and with diverse clientele (such as "resistant" adolescents, disadvantaged families, indigenous populations, teachers, children in protective custody, refugee youth, and adult perpetrators of sexual crimes against children). Eschewing the prescriptive stance of most theoretical frameworks, social construction can seem challenging for students and practitioners. This book responds with rich, illustrative descriptions of how social constructionist thinking has inspired practice approaches, illuminating the diversity and creative potential of practices that draw on social constructionist ideas. Writing in a direct, accessible style, contributors translate complex concepts into the language of daily encounter and care, and through a committed transnational focus they demonstrate the global reach and utility of their work. Chapters are provocative and thoughtful, reveal great suffering and courage, share inspiring stories of strength and renewal, and acknowledge the challenges of an approach that complicates evidence-based evaluations and requirements.

Therapy as Social Construction

Therapy as Social Construction PDF Author: Sheila McNamee
Publisher: SAGE
ISBN: 9780803983038
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 236

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Book Description
Explores the possibilities for the therapeutic process of adopting a social constructionist perspective. Topics covered in this text include the theoretical basis for social constructionist therapy, and various approaches in practice, such as irreverant therapy and the not-knowing therapist.

Social Construction of Law

Social Construction of Law PDF Author: Michael Giudice
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN: 1839103221
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 161

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Book Description
This illuminating book explores the theme of social constructionism in legal theory. It questions just how much freedom and power social groups really have to construct and reconstruct law.

The Social Construction of Race and Ethnicity in the United States

The Social Construction of Race and Ethnicity in the United States PDF Author: Prince Brown
Publisher: Pearson
ISBN:
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 556

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Book Description
This groundbreaking collection of classic and cutting edge sociological research gives special attention to the social construction of race and ethnicity in the United States. It offers an in-depth and eye-opening analysis of (a) the power of racial classification to shape our understanding of race and race relations, (b) the way in which the system came into being and remains, and (c) the real consequences this system has on life chances. The readings deal with five major themes: the personal experience of classification schemes; classifying people by race; ethnic classification; the persistence, functions, and consequences of social classification; and a new paradigm: transcending categories. For individuals who want to gain a fuller understanding of the impact the ideas of race has on a society that is consumed by it.

The Social Construction of Trust

The Social Construction of Trust PDF Author: Linda R. Weber
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1461507790
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 202

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Book Description
Based on in-depth interviews designed to determine what trust is, how it is built, and how it is destroyed, this important new resource provides extensive insight into the fundamental process of interpersonal trust in the day-to-day lives of average people. It furnishes qualitative data analysis and offers a detailed definition of trust in a sociological context. This unique text is a valuable reference for sociologists, social and clinical psychologists, and students in these disciplines.

The Social Construction of Intellectual Disability

The Social Construction of Intellectual Disability PDF Author: Mark Rapley
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521005296
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 268

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Book Description
Intellectual disability is usually thought of as a form of internal, individual affliction, little different from diabetes, paralysis or chronic illness. This study, the first book-length application of discursive psychology to intellectual disability, shows that what we usually understand as being an individual problem is actually an interactional, or social, product. Through a range of case studies, which draw upon ethnomethodological and conversation analytic scholarship, the book shows how persons categorized as 'intellectually disabled' are produced, as such, in and through their moment-by-moment interaction with care staff and other professionals.

Social Construction

Social Construction PDF Author: Kenneth J Gergen
Publisher: SAGE
ISBN: 9780761972297
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 276

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Book Description
This reader introduces a number of important viewpoints central to social constructionism and charts the development of social constructionist thought.