Social Constructionism: A Comparative Analysis

763 Words2 Pages

The similarities between systems theory and social constructionism include; the lived reality of a person is fashioned from relations, the social system a person is part of transmits identity and symptoms (Gehart, 2014). Experiences can be changed by altering the person’s language and description of a problem. And within a relational context truth can be found, and obtaining an outsiders viewpoint is unmanageable. Even with the similarities between systems theory and social constructionism there are differences (Gehart, 2014). Such as the metaphors used in each theory, social constructionism has textual metaphors, and systems theory has systems metaphors. The textual metaphor is when people use social discourses that are accessible to describe their lives with the intention to find meaning. Whereas a systems metaphor focuses more on the system of a family and how it shapes individuals thoughts of the world. When relating to clients and their problems social constructionism stresses the therapist’s role in co-construction of reality to the client while systems theory looks at the second-order cybernetic dynamics. Lastly, to generate interventions social constructionism uses the language and stories then systems theory. The constructs of the theories related to social constructionism include; Kenneth Gergen, Shelia McNamee, John Shotter, Michel …show more content…

The first assumption skeptical of objective reality: “whatever exists is mute” explains that postmodernists do not like to put too much on the fact of reality. They do not like to allow things and events to have a precise good and bad definition and they believe that communities build

Open Document