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A Social Construction Essay
Role of social constructionism
Socialstructure theories
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The Social Construction of Animals: The Social Construction Theory is defined as the event of individuals and or groups perceive real life events and objects and put a meaning to them. Social construction is an ongoing process and views can be modified because the concept is relying upon the communication from one person to another and different people can interpret things differently. One way society has constructed ideas is with animals. Throughout history people have created stories using animals as characters and those stories were passed down from generation to generation. Those stories can influence how people feel about the actual animals. An example for the social construction of animals in real life is snakes. In various historical
There is no doubt that children have a very innocent mind and it is not as easy for them to understand unfortunate events. Though they are still affected by things such as the death of a family member, natural disasters and circumstances of that kind. In the film Beasts of The Southern Wild, Hushpuppy faces a few fatalities which are approached using coping methods. These methods are found in the BASIC Ph Coping Model developed by Dr. Mooli Lahad who is the director of the Community Stress Prevention Center in Qiryat Shmona in Israel. Hushpuppy’s relationships with adults, her mom and also her dad, can easily be linked to some of these coping methods.
The Use of Non-Human Animals in Psychological Research. Animals used in research have proved to be an important factor for the uses of medicine, for example Flemming found the use of penicillin was an effective antibiotic when used on mice. Since 1822, legislation has limited how scientists use animals. In the UK, the use of animals in psychological investigations has been constrained by ethical and moral guidelines. Current UK legislation in The Animals Scientific Procedures Act 1986 states that all animal research must only take place in a laboratory that is institutionally funded.
... construction works within society, which is that, a person witnesses another 's actions of thoughts on a certain thing. The more they see this type of thought towards said thing, the more they recognize it and assume that they must have the same thought on that subject. (Mizruchi, Fein. 2)
Social constructionism was the theory described by Joel Best that explains how things in life become controversies or problems. The ways in which society thinks about situations and uses categories to analyze events in the world structures experiences and understandings of these events. Humans look at events beyond an objectivist approach, and instead subjectively, affected by the framework in which one lives. The social constructionist theory can be used to look at the relationship between science and the people that it serves, illustrated in Rebecca Skloot’s The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.
For many years, people assumed that humans are significantly different from other species, which made them somewhat superior. However, research on animal behavior, especially our closest relatives, the apes has led to new discoveries that show many similarities between human and animals. Some of these similarities have questioned the uniqueness of humans and have led to debates not only among scientists but in the public as well. Frans de Waal, a renowned primatologist and the author of The Ape and the Sushi Master, is among the scientists that claim animals and humans are quite similar. The main focus of his book is to show that culture is not exclusive to humans. De Waal was not the first scientist to propose the theory that animals have culture nonetheless; it was received with a lot of enmity. He attributes this to the fear of losing the qualities that make humans special. Claims of language in apes became so threating that animal research was almost banned. According to de Waal, “attempts of censorship do reveal just how much insecurity surrounds human uniqueness”. (32) In an attempt to support his argument, he addresses the controversial issue of morality in animals. Morality is considered a cultural aspect and therefore people often use cultural biases in decision making. Dan Kahan, a psychologist, referred to this as cultural cognition, which “refers to the tendency of individuals to conform their beliefs about disputed matters of fact to values that define their cultural identities”. Subsequently, theories on morality depend on the perspective of the scientists who carry out the research. De Waal supports his theory by analyzing aspects of morality in humans and comparing them to animal behavior.
Colb, Sherry. "A Response to the Claim That Eating Animals Is Natural." Free From Harm. N.p., 25 July 2013. Web. 16 Sept. 2015.
To start with an overview of social constructionism in very general terms leads to build understandings of child and childhood in a social world more explicitly. Notion of social construction is defined in diverse disciplines and instead of generating a description there are a number of thoughts. “It is sometimes called a movement, at other times a position, a theory, a theoretical orientation, an approach; psychologists remain unsure of its status (Stam 2001, p. 294)”. Vivien (1995, p. 10) points the origin of social constructionism stems from two to three hundred years ago in the period of enlightenment, modernism and postmodernism. By all means, Berger and Luckmann’ (1966) book The Social Construction of Reality as a first book have a title of “social construction” has influential contributes in recent studies (Hacking, 1999). In this book, questioning everyday life realities and giving examples from it, shows the importance of social relations and language that we used. Hacking’ The Social Construction of What? (1999) offers up-to-date and logical instances which supports to comprehend those aspects. He listed a number of things to be socially constructed and X as a generic label is used by him to work things as they are. First X does not exist or it is not generated by any natural thing then X existed by history, social interactions and with similar things. He discussed all too often after this process, using theory of social construction results in to change or destroy X render ‘normalisation’. Gender is one of the good examples that he gave which always come to mind whether it is constructed or not. Put it in a simple way, when X is gender; inequalities between men and women caus...
I understand social constructionism from reading the fourth learning guide OU Online (2013) to be a part of everyone’s lives, it has always been in society and it will always be in society. When a baby is born they do not know anything, like how to talk or what language they will learn but the babies’ families will talk to them in their ‘native’ language and as the baby learns the language is constructed. This is then re enforced once they start school. OU Online (2013) showed a video about the ‘End of Childhood’ and how Dame Jacqueline Wilson said that “teenagers are acting like adults at an alarmingly early age, and parents have to learn to stand up to their children’s demands”. I think she could be right but not for all children and young people as they are all different and they all develop at different stages in their lives. However OU Online (2013) says that as one...
The term social construction is the understandings childhoods are not the same everywhere and that while all societies acknowledge that children are different from adults, how they are different and what expectations are placed on them, change according to the society in which they live and what culture they are born in to. Every individual child goes through emotional changes that occur between birth and adolescence. A Childs development is impacted by the environment and nurture during this course. For example having both parents can add stability to the child’s life which encourages a healthy development. As opposed to being raised by one working parent who can’t provide the child with the same amount of time a two parent family can which some may argue impacts the child’s progression. Social construction of childhood and youth is how culture dictates the way people act and treat children and the way this impacts their adulthood. Ideas about children and childhood
Michael Pollan presents many convincing arguments that strengthen his position on whether slaughtering animals is ethical or not. He believes that every living being on this planet deserves an equal amount of respect regardless of it being an animal or human, after all humans are also animals. “An Animal’s place” by Michael Pollan is an opinionated piece that states his beliefs on whether animals should be slaughtered and killed to be someone’s meal or not. In his article, Pollan does not just state his opinions as a writer but also analyzes them from a reader’s point of view, thus answering any questions that the reader might raise. Although Pollan does consider killing and slaughtering of animals unethical, using environmental and ethical
Coming into this course, I had little to no familiarity with the social construction theory and its relation to race, gender, and sexuality. Over the past eight weeks, my mind has opened up in many different ways. Now looking at race, gender, and sexuality as social constructions I have a great understanding as to how much society plays a role in shaping the lives of countless individuals. Looking back, I believe that my life has been heavily impacted by social construction, both within my family and also my peers. However, looking at things from a new perspective, I am confident that I now have more control over what societal factors I choose to let influence my life. If there is one thing that I have learned throughout this course, it is to be skeptical; don’t always “go with the flow”, it’s natural to question things. In the end, society always influences people as much as they allow it
One of the ways through which social constructs are developed is through the approach to sacredness and or profanity. People with similar views of sacredness and or profanity develop social association due to the similarities birthed in their undertakings. Profanity and sacredness are important elements through which the world is understood. In its simplest definition, the term social construct refers to the manner through which social groupings are formed because of jointly constructed definitions and understandings of the society and the world at large. Social construction assumes that definition, meaning, understanding, and significance are not only shared, but also developed in a societal setting as opposed to a secluded or individual
In this section I will analyze two novels written by John Maxwell Coetzee, namely: The Lives of Animals and Disgrace. Through these two novels I will portray an increasing awareness of animals in Coetzee's work. In this section, I intend to analyze and put forth the importance of the presence of animals in Coetzee's work. In addition to this, Coetzee has given the central position to animals in these two novels on a linguistic level as well which further this indicates how animals are gaining significance and importance in literary texts as well.
Flynn, Clifton P. "Acknowledging the "Zoological Connection": A Sociological Analysis of Animal Cruelty." Society and Animals 9.1 (2001): 71-87. Print.
Social Construction of Gender Today’s society plays a very important role in the construction of gender. Gender is a type of issue that has raised many questions over the years in defining and debating if both male and female are equal. Today, gender is constructed in four different ways. The The first way gender is defined is by the family in which a child is raised.