Critical Analysis of Social Constructivism Theory

Theories guide a huge part of a professionals work whether it is a therapist, a psychiatrist, or especially a social worker. There are a lot of theories in the world that people use daily, from time to time or just in a specific situation when engaging or assessing a client. A few of these examples include Structural Functionalism, Structural Role Theory, Critical Race Theory, Social Darwinism, and Social Constructivism. These theories all help the human population one way or another and can be more beneficial if they are critically analyzed.

The aim of this paper is to critically analyze a theory, more specifically the Social Constructivism Theory. Marsiglia (2016) describes social constructivism to “suggests that the knowledge constructed is through collaborative social interaction” (p. 98). The focus will be on the core components of the theory, the use of it for analyzing specific issues, its cultural relevance to populations, and how the theory can be integrated to direct practice in the social work field. Components of the theory is mainly about what the theory is about and who created it. The use of the theory for analyzing specific issues will focus on the population and how it affects the populations. The cultural relevance will focus on how culturally relevant social constructivism theory is, transitioning into the way that the theory can be integrated into social work practice.

Core Components of Social Constructivism

The beliefs that social constructivism is based on is that “all cognitive functions originate in social interactions and that learning did not simply comprise the assimilation and accommodations of new knowledge by learners; it was the process by which learners were integrated into a community” (Social Constructivism, n.d.). Lev Vygotsky is the founder of the theory and it is explained through the Zone of Proximal Development. The zone of proximal development refers to how much an individual can do with or without the assistance of another person (Understanding Language and Learning, n.d.). The zone of proximal development has three levels which are the following; the learner can do things by themselves, the learner can do things with help, the learner cannot do things on their own. There are ideas or tasks we learn from others and they become part of us. An example of this is as simple as behaviors or the way we speak. If a child grows up hearing that law enforcement are the ‘bad guys’, the child may begin to think that law enforcement are bad guys.

Social constructivism is a theory that states how society influences the way we think of others which is what influences our perceptions of people. Some people in society go through experiences with others which may create an idea about a population and that idea is spread and it continues to be spread through society. This idea that is created or ‘constructed’ is based off of what some individuals have experienced rather than facts. It then becomes the way that the specific population is perceived, therefore they become targeted and eventually face oppression. It is a continuous cycle that is done through society which causes a lot of harm for these populations. Similarly, “Constructs are the tools through which individuals find meaning, configure and shape their own social world” (Sandu & Unguru, 2017). This also shows how human beings experience things with individuals and end up creating their own idea or perspective of them and tell others which causes them to also believe in this idea.

Use for Analysis

The specific population that might benefit from using the lens of theory for analysis is the offenders when released from prison as well as adolescents or adults with mental health diagnosis. When working with any populations there are a number of factors that make up for a person’s identity including an individual’s race, age, ability, occupation, and social economic class. Those that have been released from prison and have to be going to probation, have difficulty finding a job, not being discriminated out in society and sometimes even law enforcement as well. Those that have mental health illness also struggle to get jobs, not getting discriminated, and being left out because of their diagnosis. These things should not change who they are if they are doing what they can to be successful in their lives.

When working with the clients that have been released from prison, these issues also rise when trying to find services for them. For example, the individuals that are released from prison are sometimes portrayed as criminals, low-lives, drug addict, worthless, or even to be Hispanic or African American. Society see’s these so called offenders as people that cannot do anything in the community and all they do is cause harm or trouble instead. If this population would be seen through the lens of the theory, they could be seen differently. Using the theory to analyze this population changes the way that these individuals are seen. For example, these individuals may be seen as more than just criminals but as people. These individuals surround themselves with people that are also involved in criminal activities.

Saiz (2019) discussed how social constructivism theory is created through the way individuals process situations and ideas they create about reality. This theory can definitely be applicable when discussing the role of the probation office in the individuals lives because the purpose of probation is to guide the clients to change who they surround themselves with, their community involvement, and try to prevent them from falling back into the same cycle. If the clients surround themselves with individuals who are continuously doing drugs, around gang activity, or just in general making bad decisions the chances of the clients doing the same thing is much higher. If the clients can change their social interactions from negative to more positive, they too can change their behaviors. When working with this population, the probation officers (with social work, psychology, and/or criminal justice degrees) they were assigned to would emphasize a lot on the clients negative environment and the people they surround themselves with. Emphasizing the change they needed to make and change those they surround themselves with, having a stable job or going to school, as well as maybe even moving to a different location with other family members or friends. Social constructivism helps support how this population can change and stop the cycle that they are in.

Similarly, when working with the population that is diagnosed with a mental health issue it can also be partially caused by social interactions. “Failures of social support for people with disabilities result in inadequate rehabilitation, unemployment, poverty, inadequate personal and medical care, (Ferguson, 2016, p.43). When working with this population, a lot of them face oppression because they are denied a lot of services and or opportunities in society. Populations with mental health diagnosis also face other obstacles such as lack of communication services, training and education, protection from physical, sexual, and emotional abuse (Ferguson, 2016). Society sometimes does not provide support and instead turns them away because they are seen as incapable. Some of them are able to function properly if they use the their medications properly and following doctors orders. However, because society perceives individuals with mental disabilities as incapable, that is also part of what causes for the clients to not be able to live their lives as normal as possible.

When working with both the individuals released from prison and the individuals diagnosed with mental health issues the two populations have similarities but one in specific, intersectionality. Some of the factors that the individuals released from prison have are just like those of the individuals diagnosed with mental health diagnosis and any other populations in the world. Those factors include race, age, gender, social economic class, education and ability. More specifically, these individuals fall under minority races, mostly male but also female, lower economic class, little or no education, and disability. All of these factors combined cause for the populations to feel more and more oppression. In addition to these things, it is possible for them to still have other factors that fall under intersectionality for them which cause for more harm and oppression to occur. While being out in the community, these populations are turned down for job opportunities, education opportunities and discrimination.

Cultural Relevance of Social Constructivism

The social constructivism theory’s cultural relevance is very wide. One of main concepts of social constructivism is also culture. Since people come from different cultures and the theory emphasizes how people learn from their interactions with others. Most people interact with people of the same culture, therefore, the things that their culture values or believes in are passed on to others. Interacting with people of different cultures could have an effect on the person and cause for them to learn of different cultures. Vygotsky and other psychologists that he worked with had a strong belief that people cannot develop if there is no culture involved in their life (Robbins, 2016). The theory also does not focus only on one culture or another but more so on the general population. It is a broad culturally related theory and can be applied to anyone and their own culture. Not many theories can be culturally relevant and allow for most populations to apply the theory to. Since the theory emphasizes how society creates ideas, it also shows how different cultures are included in society and how they can be oppressed by society itself. More specifically, it helps show how no matter which culture a person is from, there will be some idea made up from experiences that others might have had with them.

Integration of Social Constructivism in Practice

The way that I will integrate this theory’s approach into direct practice involves self-reflection and being self-aware. More specifically, I have learned that being self-aware can help a person not be too inconsiderate of another’s feelings. I plan to keep close attention to the way I speak to the patients, as well as my own behaviors, and thoughts when working with them. I know it is difficult to do, but I think this will help me be able to self-reflect on the way I work with different clients. Social constructivism is a theory that will also help me to be more aware of clients individual and unique situation and identity and not allow for society to influence the way I perceive my clients despite the reason they are being seen for. I plan to work on becoming adaptable to clients so that I can easily adapt to their situation individually and meet them right where they are. Since I am currently still working with a population that has mental health diagnosis, I plan to continue to practice integrating this theory. Although society has created mental health as a negative experience, my own experiences with this population has taught me differently. I will continue to see the patients at the hospital as their own person and capable of doing all that society implies they cannot such as working, going to school, living on their own and most importantly being successful.

Conclusion

Social constructivism is a theory that explains how people learn from the different social interactions they have with others rather than from a biological nature (Marsiglia, 2016). The theory also has the zone of proximal development which allows to understand how people may or may not need others to learn things on their own. The cultural relevance of social constructivism is wide and does not target any culture specifically but more so a variety of cultures. Social constructivism can be integrated into the social work practice in various ways which can be through either self-reflection, self-awareness or just being a good listener. For myself, I can integrate this theory into social work practice by being a learner of the clients and paying close attention to a client’s interactions and how they have learned their behaviors and/or way of thinking. After all, we continue to learn from one another based off of who we interact with but the things we learn only grow on us and continue to spread within our families, our communities and society.