After reading the social constructionist perspective its premise is that are world is not built through experiences but through communication. This was really hard for me to grasp because we have our own individual characteristics that make us unique. It reminds me of a saying my professor just used, “You can never walk a mile in another mans shoes”, in other words you can never experience the same thing as anyone else. According to the social constructionist perspective this is not the case.
Trenholm (2008), “According to this perspective, we construct the world through communication”. My interpretation of this statement is that we inherit who we are through past communications that have occurred through generations and we incorporate them into our culture. There is one thing that I can think of that is cultural although I am not sure which side of the family it comes from but when someone comes to visit our home they are always offered food. I didn’t realize that I do this until my husband pointed it out after we went to visit elderly relatives and they had an entire table full of food.
When I think of ideas that we talk about in our culture (American) is freedom. The irony in this statement is that so many of us take it for granted and don’t even realize that our communication would be so different if we were immersed into another culture outside of our country. I believe freedom contributes to both our happiness and success and can also contribute to our failures and sadness.
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Hi,
ReplyDeleteI found your thoughts on the social constructionist perspective very interesting and very clear and easy to decipher. I too found this perspective to be slightly confusing, and found it to conflict slightly with other teachings from other courses. It is true that we can never truly walk a mile in another persons shoes because everyone’s lives are lived so differently. My sister and I are so different yet we were raised in the same home. What culture do you associate with in which food is offered? I wish I could do that, but people would probably never come visit us again because I am not a good cook. My refrigerator resembles the contents of the ones you see on cribs, stocked with water and maybe a cube of butter. Well at least the Shark's won a game recently!
Capone's Mom
I enjoy the way you explained that we inherit who we are through past communications that have occurred through generations and we incorporate them into our culture. I really like that way of explaining this concept. I think this can certainly be the case within the family structure one was raised in although Capone's Mom mentions she and her sister are very different and grew up in the same household. For you, that communication that occurred in your family helped create who you are and you're able to identify some of that in your social interactions. I don't think I have my head in the sand but I oftentimes don't realize those sorts of things unless I am in a different country.
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