Social constructions are the consensus between most people used to establish why different types of people do different things. People in varying areas may have contrasting views on one or more topics; therefore, the degree of acceptance varies from place to place. People tend to group people based on characteristics like age, gender, ethnicity, and class. Social constructions help society to decide on what is and is not acceptable, which means it also defines what kinds of activity are and are not criminal. Society uses social constructions to decide the reasoning behind the crime, level of severity, as well as the consensus surrounding the crime and further crimes. When criminologists study crime they try to infer relations and reasoning
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Social construction theory is “concerned with how individuals cognitively construct their world by making sense of their own experiences of their environment” (Kelly, 1955) which describes how people decide for themselves what they deem as appropriate. Society comes to a consensus and functions off of these values. Deciding what is and is not acceptable helps people to realize how to protect themselves as well as what kinds of crime are more prominent. There will always be people that do not agree with the social constructions but society as a whole decides what is right and what is wrong even if it is not written down it is ultimately the social norms in society. There are often three positions established within social constructionism, radical, contextual, and postmodernist. (Henry, 2009) Radical constructionists are people who “completely reject the idea of an objective reality”, meaning that people in different communities develop claims of what is right but are not able to support them completely within society. Contextual constructionists’ view that not everything is a social construction and believe people can manipulate social norms to fit their society (Best, 1989). These types of people argue that social constructions are only valid when put into a relevant situation and that they cannot be applied to everything. Postmodern Constructionists deconstruct the claims and challenge all aspects in order to try to come up with a solid solution. These people look into all aspects of the crime and try to prove it wrong into ultimately being proven right and confirming the outcome. Contrasting views on social constructions can cause people to have to think deeper what is right and wrong and can help to establish a stronger acceptance of these established
Social construction theory is “concerned with how individuals cognitively construct their world by making sense of their own experiences of their environment” (Kelly, 1955) which describes how people decide for themselves what they deem as appropriate. Society comes to a consensus and functions off of these values. Deciding what is and is not acceptable helps people to realize how to protect themselves as well as what kinds of crime are more prominent. There will always be people that do not agree with the social constructions but society as a whole decides what is right and what is wrong even if it is not written down it is ultimately the social norms in society. There are often three positions established within social constructionism, radical, contextual, and postmodernist. (Henry, 2009) Radical constructionists are people who “completely reject the idea of an objective reality”, meaning that people in different communities develop claims of what is right but are not able to support them completely within society. Contextual constructionists’ view that not everything is a social construction and believe people can manipulate social norms to fit their society (Best, 1989). These types of people argue that social constructions are only valid when put into a relevant situation and that they cannot be applied to everything. Postmodern Constructionists deconstruct the claims and challenge all aspects in order to try to come up with a solid solution. These people look into all aspects of the crime and try to prove it wrong into ultimately being proven right and confirming the outcome. Contrasting views on social constructions can cause people to have to think deeper what is right and wrong and can help to establish a stronger acceptance of these established