Constructing the Social
Edited by:
- Theodore R Sarbin - University of California, Santa Cruz, USA
- John I Kitsuse - University of California, Santa Cruz, USA
270 pages | SAGE Publications Ltd
If you are looking for a clear, concrete overview on social constructionist research and analysis, look no further than Constructing the Social. This timely volume pools the talents of many leading psychologists and sociologists, who in each case ground theory into practical examples. Contributors demonstrate that human beings are principally social agents rather than passive reactors that process information. Each contributor analyzes the historical and cultural contexts implicit in a wide range of key issues including anxiety, the family, intelligence, aging, and depression.
Constructing the Social is an invaluable resource for psychologists, sociologists, and other researchers across the social sciences who seek to understand the implications of social constructionist theory.
Theodore R Sarbin and John I Kitsuse
Prologue
PART ONE: PUBLIC DOCUMENTS AS SOURCES OF SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONS
Mary Gergen
The Social Construction of Personal Histories
Carol Brooks Gardner
The Social Construction of Pregnancy and Fetal Development
Stephen J Lilley and Gerald M Platt
Correspondents' Images of Martin Luther King Jr
PART TWO: SOCIOPOLITICAL FACTORS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SOCIAL CATEGORIES
Kim Lane Scheppele
Practices of Truth-Finding in a Court of Law
Mary Boyle
Gender, Science and Sexual Dysfunction
Milton L Andersen
The Many and Varied Social Constructions of Intelligence
Richard S Hallam
Some Constructionist Observations on `Anxiety' and its History
PART THREE: THE DECONSTRUCTION OF POPULAR CONCEPTIONS
Tia DeNora and Hugh Mehan
Genius
Christopher L Bodily
Ageism and the Deployments of `Age'
Karl E Scheibe
Cocaine Careers
Morton Wiener and David Marcus
A Sociocultural Construction of `Depressions'
James A Holstein and Jaber F Gubrium
Constructing Family
`Provides diverse examples of constructionist analysis in practice, thereby illuminating both its virtues and its vices' - Reviewing Sociology