Behavior analysis and social constructionism: some points of contact and departure

Social constructionists occasionally single out behavior analysis as the field of psychology that most closely resembles the natural sciences in its commitment to empiricism, and accuses it of suffering from many of the limitations to science identified by the postmodernist movement (e.g., K. J. Gergen, 1985a; Soyland, 1994). Indeed, behavior analysis is a natural science in many respects. However, it also shares with social constructionism important epistemological features such as a rejection of mentalism, a functional-analytic approach to language, the use of interpretive methodologies, and a reflexive stance on analysis. The current paper outlines briefly the key tenets of the behavior-analytic and social constructionist perspectives before examining a number of commonalties between these approaches. The paper aims to show that far from being a nemesis to social constructionism, behavior analysis may in fact be its close ally.     

Social Construction and its Development: Liping Yang Interviews Kenneth Gergen

Nanjing University psychologist Liping Yang interviews Kenneth Gergen on the development of social constructionist thought and practice. The conversation treats a variety of issues, including the development of constructionism as a new paradigm, qualitative research, education and other practices informed by constructionism, value loaded science, relativism, and the Taos Institute.     

Nancy J. Hirschmann on the Social Construction of Women's Freedom

Nancy J. Hirschmann presents a feminist, social constructionist account of women's freedom. Friedman's discussion of Hirschmanns account deals with (1) some conceptual problems facing a thoroughgoing social constructionism; (2) three ways to modify social constructionism to avoid those problems; and (3) an assessment of Hirschmann's version of social constructionism in light of the previous discussion.     

Social Constructionism and Ethics: Implications for Counseling

Social constructionism is set forth as an epistemological framework from which to establish an ethical base for the field of counseling. The development of the social constructionist movement in counseling is described. Implications of a social constructionist position are considered in relation to ethics. A case example is provided to illustrate implications of a social constructionist position.     

The construction of career through goal-directed action

The thesis of this article is that occupational career is constructed through a system of intentional, goal-directed processes in the form of actions and projects as well as other careers, such as the family career and relationship careers. A contextual action theory of career is proposed as an approach that reflects a constructionist stance and at the same time addresses fundamental issues raised by social constructionism, such as issues of meaning, interpretation, and agency. The discussion is illustrated by reference to a research program on the family career-development project that examines the joint action of parents and adolescents relative to the adolescent’s future. It is further suggested that this approach leads constructionism beyond its epistemological critique to a positive formulation of professional and everyday activity.     

Is there a place for individual subjectivity within a social constructionist epistemology?

The epistemological turn towards social constructionism has become well established within the field of family systemic therapy. Social constructionism has provided therapists with a theoretical rationale for the concentration upon the social context within which individuals and families live their lives. This is a philosophical position that pushes to the margins the positivist premise that individuals have fixed and measurable personalities in favour of a discourse which proposes that the person is encountered differently within different social contexts. Prompted by the growing interest in systemic practice with individuals and by the rediscovery of the psychoanalytic canon within family therapy literature, the adequacy of this position is examined and an attempt is made to open up a space within social constructionist discourse for a theory of individual subjectivity. Findings from a research project are the starting point for this venture. These findings are understood through the lens of psychoanalytic theory, with particular reference to the work of Jacques Lacan.     

The Value of Social Constructionism for the Counseling Profession: A Reply to Hansen

The authors reply to J. T. Hansen's (2005) call for the profession to revalue the inner subjective experiences (ISE) of clients. Hansen argued that social constructionism has influenced the decline of the counseling profession by obscuring its unique focus on ISE. The authors maintain that social constructionism is a useful framework for counseling, and they articulate a social constructionist position for counseling. Hansen's reasons for arguing that ISE must be revalued are discussed along with future directions for social constructionism and counseling.     

Realism and social structure

Social constructionism is often considered a form of anti-realism. But in contemporary feminist philosophy, an increasing number of philosophers defend views that are well-described as both realist and social constructionist. In this paper, I use the work of Sally Haslanger as an example of realist social constructionism. I argue: (i) that Haslanger is best interpreted as defending metaphysical realism about social structures; (ii) that this type of metaphysical realism about the social world presents challenges to some popular ways of understanding metaphysical realism.     

A Social Constructionist Model of Therapeutic Factors

Evidentiary support for the efficacy of therapeutic models has been a contentious issue since the professionalization of psychology. Despite advances in evidence-based practices in psychology and common factors research, discontent still exists among postmodern psychotherapists in that evidence is mainly defined in modernist/positivistic terms, thereby excluding therapeutic models based on alternative nonpositivistic epistemologies. I proposes a model, which is based on social constructionist theories, for investigating the therapeutic efficacy of various approaches. This article evaluates and differentiates between two models for viewing the efficacy of psychotherapy, namely outcome versus process efficacy. A social constructionist model of therapeutic factors is proposed as a means to incorporate therapeutic factors into psychotherapy processes that are consistent with a social constructionist theory of change. Three main therapeutic elements, which are identified as central to an effective psychotherapy process, are outlined in the model. The proposed model may be useful as a guide to efficacious psychotherapy and as a means for investigating the efficacy of social constructionist therapies.     

Social Constructionist Arguments in Harding's Science and Social Inequality

Harding's aim in Science and Social Inequality is to integrate the insights generated by diverse critiques of conventional ideals of truth, value freedom, and unity in science, and to chart a way forward for the sciences and for science studies. Wylie assesses this synthesis as a genre of social constructionist argument and illustrates its implications for questions of epistemic warrant with reference to transformative research on gender‐based discrimination in the workplace environment.     

DONNA HARAWAY'S METATHEORY OF SCIENCE AND RELIGION: CYBORGS, TRICKSTER, AND HERMES

Abstract. This article is a close reading of two essays by Donna Haraway on feminist philosophy, the biophysical sciences, and critical social theory. Haraway's strong social constructionist approach to science is criticized by colleague Sandra Harding, resulting in an epistemological reconceptualization of objectivity by Haraway. Haraway's notion of “situated knowledges” provides a workable epistemology for all social and biophysical sciences, while inviting the reintegration of religions as critical conversation partners in an emancipatory hermeneutics of nature, culture, and technology.     

心理治疗领域的本质论与社会建构论

本质论与社会建构论是心理治疗领域中两种对立倾向。本质论坚持了经验实证主义的传统,代表着心理治疗领域中的现代主义取向;这一取向把病理心理作为行为问题的本质,从个体的内部寻找产生病理心理的原因。社会建构论挑战经验实证主义科学观,认为病理心理并非一种“精神实在”,而是一种文化建构。它代表了心理治疗领域的后现代主义取向。作者认为,两种取向的对立短时间内难以消解,在目前的条件下,应开放和宽容,互补互惠。     

‘You're the doctor,Doctor!’: is social constructionism a helpful stance in general practice consultations?

This paper considers the advantages and limitations of using a social constructionist stance in general practice, and is illustrated with two case examples. An approach is suggested for clinical practice using social constructionism and biomedical knowledge dialectically, each as a commentary on the limitations of the other.     

Embodied Methodologies,Participation, and the Art of Research

In this article, I make the case for scholarship potential at the overlap of art and research. Using the case of the psychological study of adolescence, I show that in order to produce findings of meaning from a critical psychological perspective, it is imperative to consider methodology and epistemology. With a focus on artistic embodied methodologies within participatory action research projects on adolescence, I explore how creative approaches can be an analytic process for knowledge production in the critical social sciences. I argue that the artistic approaches employed using embodied methodologies can be considered as a way to make meaning and that especially within participatory research, these approaches can strengthen validity. In response to the epistemological violence (Teo, 2010) of some conventional social psychological studies, participatory artistic embodied methodologies contribute to building liberatory knowledge and rigorous science.     

社会建构论与心理学理论的未来发展

社会建构论是当代西方心理学中的一股重要学术思潮。它认为知识不是一种科学发现,而是一种社会建构。知识的生产过程不是个体理性决定的,而是一种文化历史的过程,是社会协商和互动的结果。有关心理现象的分类、心理活动的形式方面的知识都是一定文化历史条件的产物。从社会建构论的视角看心理学的研究成果会有许多新的收获。从社会建构论的观点来看,理论不是经验事实的概括和抽象,而是一种社会建构。理论先于经验观察,也高于经验观察,这种观点将理论建构置于经验工作之首,为心理学理论的未来发展开辟了全新的视角。     

Ambiguity and the dialogical self: In search for a dialogical psychology

Abstract

It is intuitively felt that ambiguity plays a crucial role in human beings' everyday life and in psychologists' theoretical and applied work. However, ambiguity remains essentially non-problematised in psychological science since its foundation. This article analyses positivist and social constructionist perspectives on ambiguity in the context of their epistemological and ontological fundamental assumptions. The relational thesis of social constructionism is further analysed and it is argued that it constitutes a “weak thesis” concerning the relational constitution of human beings. In the second part, a dialogical alternative is elaborated. In this perspective, ambiguity is placed in the context of relationship and both are brought to an ontological ground. Therefore, it is argued, ambiguity is a fundamental property of human experience and plays a fundamental role in the constitution of (inter)subjective processes. The impact of this thesis on dialogical perspective on self is elaborated.     

The Pain of Endo Existence: Toward a Feminist Disability Studies Reading of Endometriosis

Disability scholars have critiqued medical models that pathologize disability as an individual flaw that needs treatment, rehabilitation, and cure, favoring instead a social‐constructionist approach that likens disability to other identity categories such as gender, race, class, and sexuality. However, the emphasis on social constructionism has left chronic illness and pain largely untheorized. This article argues that feminist disability studies (FDS) must attend to the common, chronic gynecological condition endometriosis (endo) when theorizing pain. Endo is particularly important for FDS analysis because the highly feminized and sexualized nature of endo pain is a major source of disability. Because medical treatments of endo enhance fertility rather than provide pain relief, those with endo must not only have access to medical services to manage their pain, but also demand better medical management of their pain as well as disability accommodations for their pain. Thus, I propose a pain‐centric model of disability that politicizes pain through social‐constructionist and medical models of disability by attending to the lived experiences of pain.     

Social Construction and Materiality: The Limits of Indeterminacy in Therapeutic Settings

By drawing parallels between the courtroom testimony of a Christian Science practitioner and an intersession conversation between systemic family therapists, I critique the abstract idealism of language-centered social constructionism. I argue that social constructionist inquiry that highlights the indeterminacy of meaning without a corresponding emphasis on the responsive embodied practices of family members glosses over the material conditions shaping the politics of interaction. The implications of this problem are discussed as they relate to the setting of family therapy, where social construction theory is often used to guide practical interventions.     

Fusing Horizons: Exploring Qualitative Research and Psychotherapeutic Applications of Social Constructionism

This article describes how social constructionist theory can be applied to the processes of data collection and analysis in qualitative research. In doing so, we borrow from previous discussions of social constructionism within the psychotherapeutic literature. Social constructionist theory, particularly the idea of a not-knowing stance, addresses the methodological concern of validity. Furthermore, because a not-knowing stance entails a leveling of the hierarchy and minimizing of the power differential between researcher and participant, there is also the potential for turning the research process into an freeing experience for both the researcher and participant.     

Abandoning our parents and grandparents: does social construction mean the end of systemic family therapy?

This paper explores how ideas from first- and second-order cybernetics may be incorporated into the contemporary interest in social constructionist perspectives. We argue that it is possible to contemplate a third-order cybernetics which incorporates ideas from systems theory and social constructionism and that this may capture the reality of the 'hands-on' integration of ideas that many practitioners are currently exploring. A framework consisting of eight connecting threads is proposed as a way of helping us to clarify the continuities and discontinuities between the original and contemporary ideas. It is argued that this is an important and potentially useful endeavour, since many practitioners use a mixture of ideas and techniques in an eclectic way but are wary of potential criticisms of being 'linear', 'expert', 'manipulative' and 'non-collaborative'. A case study is offered to illustrate a 'hands-on' integration of contemporary and pioneering ideas and to invite discussion of how concepts and techniques from first- , second- and the new 'third-order' cybernetics influenced by social constructionism might be further integrated.