The first of the three frameworks, SCF, looks at the constructed perceptions of groups. Schneider and Ingram (1993) outline that conceptualization and normative aspects of a target group inform the design of policy and vice versa. This can establish a cyclical nature for social constructions. Constructions can be positive—a population is deserving of a benefit—or negative a population is undeserving and is a burden (Schneider and Ingram 1993: 335). These constructions highlight power disparities of groups, such as the poor not having the political power to advocate greater government aid due to the social construction that the population is “lazy” (Rose and Baumgartner 2013). Policies are therefore shaped, modified, or stable depending on how
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Valcore and Dodge (2016) find that adding gay and lesbian as a protected status under hate crimes legislation at the state level does not change the deviant construction. This could be due to another policy area has a greater dominance in the deviant/deserving construction, such as sex marriage policies (Flores and Barclay 2016). As Flores and Barclay find, as policies change people becomes supportive, if not, more indecisive toward the negative—deviant--construction of a particular minority (target) group—in their case gays and lesbians. More than just how policy shapes constructions, Husmann (2015) that policy narratives and frames shift policy. Having a deviant construction of obesity promotes more individual policy solutions and decreases support for obese dependents—children. The attribution of blame, anger, and sympathy are elements that form individual’s normative judgements that persuade their policy solution and outlook. These normative judgments move promote less policy intervention and more individual responsibility. This in turn decreases policy outputs. Therefore, dominate social construction shifts the public mood on an issue, influencing policy, which reinforces the social construction. Husmann also highlights that narrative helps to influence social constructions. Narratives can highlight deservedness, deviance, advantaged, burdens, and
Valcore and Dodge (2016) find that adding gay and lesbian as a protected status under hate crimes legislation at the state level does not change the deviant construction. This could be due to another policy area has a greater dominance in the deviant/deserving construction, such as sex marriage policies (Flores and Barclay 2016). As Flores and Barclay find, as policies change people becomes supportive, if not, more indecisive toward the negative—deviant--construction of a particular minority (target) group—in their case gays and lesbians. More than just how policy shapes constructions, Husmann (2015) that policy narratives and frames shift policy. Having a deviant construction of obesity promotes more individual policy solutions and decreases support for obese dependents—children. The attribution of blame, anger, and sympathy are elements that form individual’s normative judgements that persuade their policy solution and outlook. These normative judgments move promote less policy intervention and more individual responsibility. This in turn decreases policy outputs. Therefore, dominate social construction shifts the public mood on an issue, influencing policy, which reinforces the social construction. Husmann also highlights that narrative helps to influence social constructions. Narratives can highlight deservedness, deviance, advantaged, burdens, and