“Social Construction of Reality”

Social locution of Reality Reality is non an objective thing that is imposed upon us, but is created by us. Reality does non exist externally but internally, as each person or group interprets it, and is al bearings changing. Due to these conceits sociologists often speak ab fall out the loving winding of truth which is essential to understand when attempting to explain human sociable behavior. Since existentty is the root of peoples actions, W. I. doubting Thomas states, If people prep ar internet sites as real, they are real in their consequences.The affable building of creation, human favorable behavior and W. I. Thomass state handst are three concepts that fit hand in hand and are classic when trying to explain champion some other. Sociologists speak around the cordial formulation of naturalism as a way to describe the signifi arousece of how nightspot shapes our definition of candor. People coming together to build reality and assign something as real because we define it as real. As sociologists explain the affectionate mental synthesis of reality they have observed that each baseball club or the social groups that each person belongs to forms wholenesss particular views on life.Our social construction of reality constructs our views of how we see the gentleman around us therefore touching how we see reality and why we do the things we do. People construct reality using the five senses sight, smell, touch, hearing and taste. For congressman, when taking a table into consideration, ane does not react to the concrete object but the meaning we crack up it. If this aforementioned(prenominal) table were to fall out of the sky, land in a jungle and tribe people were to stumble across it they most plausibly would not use it in the same context but peradventure as a bed or a sacrificial altar.The social construction of reality not only applies to inanimate objects but to relationships and the tush of how someone treats some one else, much(prenominal) as symbolic interactionism (Essentials of Sociology, pg. 15). Symbolic interactionism such as we attach meaning to things and this is how everyone understands similar views in the world and how we transfer with one another. This is evident when one dissects the idea of the enslavement of Afri piles, kat oncen as the white mans burden. Whites defined blacks as less(prenominal) than human, savages or creatures that could not survive despatch of their own minimal cognitive reasoning.This understanding was the basis of slavery. Another example is the idea of marriage and come apart, and how the institution is ever changing. Up until the early 1900s marriage was viewed as a lifelong commitment, divorce was taboo and shunned as organism immoral and the abandonment of adult responsibility. In 1945 sociologists Ernest Burgess and Harvey Locke noted that couples were looking at marriage as less of a lifelong commitment and more of an arrangement that was foun d on attraction and feelings, it became a situation that could be broken when feelings changed.Divorce became more uncouth and was defined more positive as freedom and new beginnings (Essentials of Sociology, pg. 16). An example of another reality is how from person to person there is no legitimate definition of success. The letter grade B brings on different emotions depending on the item-by-item. One student would jump for joy to pass with the B eon others would be sad, even cry. In actuality B is just a shape, a letter of the English alphabet, given(p) on paper but what the person defines it as gives it meaning to their reality, and then forget about the + or - given accompanied with the letter grade.Our social construction of reality defines our behavior and how we react to the meaning that we give these situations or objects. Human social behavior is what is establish off of once a reality is socially constructed. This is why it is so important to first understand the con cept of the social construction of reality before trying to explain why people act the way they do. Because this object with four legs attached to a flat surface is defined as a table one uses it to eat on or sit at and not other things such as log Zs on.If an individual were to use it as something else they would be looked at as being weird because they are not doing what is socially accepted or viewed as breaking the rules. The concept of ethnocentrism is where a group of people tries to change another group of people to make them like them so they can surrender them for their own good. This is done because according to their social construction of reality up to now the opposing group behaves is price. This can be seen byout level for example the crusades, as stated before the white mans burden in Africa, and the war in Iraq.During the days of slavery, treating a black individual maliciously was socially accepted because of the way reality was constructed. The changing attit udes toward marriage and divorce are evident when one looks at the trends. Marriage is not viewed the same as it was 100 years ago it is not necessary to be married forming a family by age 15. This concept of social construction of reality also explains why patterns form and how people can bugger off similar behavior without having to know each other.On the streets of New York good sidewalk etiquette is defined as passing another person on the right, paseo far enough not to brush the other person ,if one can help it, and ensuring not to look at the person when go by. However, when any of these rules are broken it makes the other individual uneasy or even angry. But these unwritten rules arent necessarily the same in different parts of the world, for example in London it is socially adjust that if you are walking towards and passing someone else that you part ship canal on the left side.Other areas where unwritten rules exist are in elevators, such as where and how to stand, and also seen in face-to-face conversations, such as eye touch modality and distance something known as personal space. Ones views for what is right from wrong also comes from the foundation on what one defines as real. W. I. Thomass quote, If men define a situation as real, its real in its consequences correlates directly to the idea that human social behavior is based off of the social construction of reality.Thomas is analyzing that reality is a social carrefour that is construed by whatever we define as real. Humans do what they do and react solely by the meaning we give things and not the things in and of itself. This is why money, gold and diamonds are valuable. Money is simply do of paper but because it is defined as currency we make it out to be very valuable. To better understand this notion one can mastermind note of our system of crime and punishment, which is based off of W. I. Thomass thoughts.When the jury makes a decision, they are deciding on what they compass as re ality. They do not know exactly what happened but from witnesses and bear witness they make this judgment. W. I. Thomass idea is significant in the enculturation of human social behavior because it further proves that human actions are based off of the reality that something is true. This is why what is defined as normal varies from culture to culture and the decided meaning to an object or action is arbitrary. The social construction of reality, human social behavior and W.I. Thomass quote, If men define a situation as real, it is real in its consequences are concepts that compliment one another. To be able to understand fully, one must be able to comprehend all concepts. When sociologists speak about the social construction of reality through the groups that we belong to we learn ways of looking at whatever happens to us and what we see because through social interaction is how we construct reality and from that point on is how we behave and respond.Its not a question of which came first the chicken or the egg, because in the eyes of sociologists human social behavior is caused by the social construction or reality and W. I. Thomass statement is an abridgment of these concepts explaining mens definitions of situations given the meaning of what is what or who is who. It doesnt matter what is real or not, what does exist or not exist, because we give meaning or consequences to this reality that has been portrayed and instilled in our minds. References Henslin, J. M. 2011. Essentials of Sociology A Down-to-Earth Approach-9th edition. Pearson.Social Construction of RealityThe Social Construction of Reality is a work of mantic reasoning to the redefine the task and to broaden its range to understand the redefining of sociological knowledge. Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann both argue that reality is socially constructed by the knowledge of the people for social reality is produced and communicated amongst others. They emphasize on the circumstance that hum an is a part of a product of society and wickedness versa society is a product of human. Berger and Luckmann follow the Schutzs concept of think the reality of everyday life as an intersubjective world- a world shared with many others.Berger and Luckmann begin with emphasizing strongly on the dual interpretations of reality amongst the intersubjective world they share. They argue the meanings that we, as human, interpret from the messages and what we situate ourselves in, is touch by our knowledge, our surroundings and our interactions. And what we interpret corresponds with others interpretations. Its a constant, ongoing paralleling skirmish/agreement between your individual meaning and others meaning of a message. Berger accentuates that we take the reality of everyday life for granted as reality. I mat in the way that he was criticizing populace for being ignorant and end minded to what more the world can offer and only nidus on the views of our individual society. Human only seek to understand our individual knowledge of a subject, hence that I mentioned before in my interpretations, that our society is constructed by knowledge. I then concluded that Berger was arguing on the concept that we, as humans, are de-humanizing ourselves through our view of society. He gives off an example, which I completely agree with, to further emphasize on how humans can perplex oblivious to the world that is outside OUR individual world.He speaks of a case, where an go mechanic who knows of only American cars is put in a situation where a customer brings in a Volkswagen-a foreign-made car. Now this mechanic is demand to enter the problematic world of foreign cars with curiosity to lead, or makes the resource to not leave his everyday reality. We, as humans (depending on the individuals personality) become cautious when the problematic world is presented to us. Whether the society involves humans to be risk taker, no human would leave their world of repose and sanity to join and explore something completely different from the world they are familiarizing with.After hours of re-reading this pick, I finally got an idea or at least a gist of what Bergen and Luckmann argues. I then related their argument to last(prenominal) historical events or events that we deal and struggle with today. I related this excerpt to the struggle that women endured in the mid 1800s. Many, more in general, men, didnt signalize women were human with rights according to the governmental documentations. Men saw women as property, particularly if they were married. Women were stripped off their rights when married and were considered feisty and weak.Women possess the knowledge that they were fit to men they knew that the society there were stuck in was incorrect. So they, as delicate and weak beings took the chance to explore their own problematic world. And that lead to a movement, a strong revolution consisting of women fighting for their rights. And the ign orance in this situation is presented through the share of the mens interpretation of what a woman is and the nominate they are to be serving in society. As Berger argues that we take our reality of everyday for granted, I agreed.In todays society, it becomes clear that certain women undervalue themselves for men. In todays society, women dont realize how pleasing we are to be able to a complete true citizen. From send nudes and selling their body, it puts a strong movement that was revolutionizing in the19th century to waste. Women become close minded, exactly as Berger and Luckmann argued, and only see for their individual society. Thats why we need to vote at least to appreciate that the rights we now possessed were fought for, for us to be equal.