Читать книгу The Sage Handbook of Social Constructionist Practice - Группа авторов - Страница 158

Although the social figures prominently in both social work and social construction, its meaning and expression are somewhat different. The origins of the social in social work stem from volunteer efforts in the late 19th century to address poverty in the context of the Industrial Revolution (Stuart, 2019). This social environment remains central for social work. Its meaning has expanded over the past 50 years to include environments produced by oppressive ideologies such as racism, sexism, and homophobia. Social environment also reflects practices such as community organizing and social development.

The social in social construction reflects more of a philosophical position, one that takes relationships rather than individuals to be primary. Within social construction, the concept of persons, minds, and knowledge are generated by social processes (Gergen, 2015). ‘For example, for social constructionists, persons are social not only because they are socially interactive, but because they are socially constituted’ (Witkin, 2012, p. 32). Whereas in social work the individual (within a social context) is often taken to be the unit of analysis, for social constructionists the relationship is primary. Also, social construction uses ‘social’ to index how beliefs and perspectives are expressions of factors such as historical contingencies and community norms and practices.