Social constructionists believe that there is no singular objective reality, just subjective realities that are created as people socialize. They believe that there is no reality beyond our own constructed experiences. This supports the criticism leveled against social constructionism as it is perceived to have a conceptualization of realism and relativism. However, in fact, it is accused of being anti-realist due to denying that knowledge is a direct perception of reality. The realism approach...
Social constructionists believe that there is no singular objective reality, just subjective realities that are created as people socialize. They believe that there is no reality beyond our own constructed experiences. This supports the criticism leveled against social constructionism as it is perceived to have a conceptualization of realism and relativism. However, in fact, it is accused of being anti-realist due to denying that knowledge is a direct perception of reality.
The realism approach challenges social constructionism, as it suggests that social problems are not created by society through language, norms, power etc. But that, they exist whether our mind perceives them or not. Realism is the doctrine that an external world exists independently of our representations of it. This suggests that the physical world is objective, and knowledge acquired through our senses is the real perspective of the world. Therefore, social problems are real and not distorted by our representations and views. This indicates that a realistic approach may be a more useful way of understanding social problems.
