Social Constructionism And Social Constructionism

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3.1. Introduction
As referenced in earlier chapters a qualitative approach was selected for this research. This is due to the fact that the research isn 't concerned with quantifying or measuring the lay populace 's interpretations/understandings of substance use, abuse and dependency. Rather the research aims to explore and unpack these interpretations and understandings as part of their subjective human experience. It is important to note that this research project forms but a part part of a larger more comprehensive study which also focuses on gaining an clearer understanding of the general populace 's understandings and interpretations of substance use abuse and dependency given the recent changes made from the DSM- IV tot the DSM-V. This …show more content…

Researcher such as Burr (2015), in her novel simply entitled " Social Constructionism" explains how social constructionism insists that researcher take a critical stance/approach towards our (society 's) "taken for granted" understandings regarding both the ourselves as individuals and indeed the world at large (Burr, 2015). This is due to the fact that social constructionism, as a psychological theory, posits that categories, understandings and concepts we hold as individuals within society are all historical and culturally specific (Burr, 2015). Put simply social constructionists believe that our understanding of the world around us is itself informed and constructed through our engagement with social norms and our contextual environment (Burr, 2015). For instance an understating many of us may hold to be undeniable true such as "murder is morally bad" is constructed through perhaps ones exposure to murder contextually or the language used by those within ones community surrounding murder which is often highly negative in nature (Burr, 2015). Social constructionism suggests that our understanding of murder being bad could just as easily have been the converse should these factors have been slightly different in their nature/use (Burr,

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