Social Constructionism

Core questions
•What is social constructionism?
•How is social constructionism useful in understanding how the lives of children, young people and families are constructed?
•What are the implications of social constructionism for practice?

Social constructionism: Social constructionism is a theory that seeks to describe the world we live in. The theory assumes that the world is socially constructed, i.e. that it is not objectively ‘real’ but that the way in which we experience the world is shaped by our place in society – for example, a man may experience social reality differently to a woman.

The theory argues that knowledge is produced within a particular cultural and historical context and can only explain that context. Therefore, knowledge produced in the United States, for example, would not be relevant to a different cultural context such as Cambodia. Reality and knowledge are produced through social processes such as through language and social practices.



Images of children
Have a think about the two images of children that you have chosen and write down some ideas about how the pictures portray children. This will help you begin to understand the idea of how different ideas about children are constructed.
In our discussion it will useful to talk about the following:

•What would the person/organisation who took the picture want you to think about the child?
• Who are the children portrayed?

• How are the children portrayed?

• How are these images different (and the same) from images of children and young people in other situations e.g. playing sport/ at school/hanging around on the streets?

Does the image make you think about children's rights? Protecting the child?


Hi everyone!



I have chosen Image C as my 'Typical' image of childhood. I may have chosen this because it reminds me of one of my daughters birthday parties, but it also conveys childhood innocence and fun. The children themselves seem to be well behaved and waiting patiently for something. The children portrayed seem to be infant school age, and from diverse ethnic backgrounds.



My 'Unusual' choice of image is Image E. This child is obviously suffering from neglect and violence in the home, but there may be other hidden issues. The child is portrayed in a dimly lit room, dirty and injured, and as such is a stereotypical image of an abused child. Of course, lots of abuse goes on unnoticed and isnt so obvious, so this image could be misleading. This image does make me think of child protection and safeguarding issues, and confidentiality guidelines were such a child choose to disclose some form of abuse to me.