Varieties of social constructionism and the problem of progress in psychiatry

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth F. Schaffner ◽  
Kathryn Tabb
Keyword(s):  
Social Construction ◽  
Psychiatric Disorders ◽  
Social Constructionism ◽  
Social Factors ◽  
Medical Settings ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Relationship

Chapter 11 discusses how the debates over the relationship between social factors and progress in psychiatry have been muddied by confusion over how the term “social construction” has been, and should be, used. It covers how one option is to move away from the language of social construction, like many in the literature have done since the 1990s. But this move risks obscuring the continued importance of attending to the role of the social in psychiatric progress. This chapter aims to clarify the different positions taken by social constructionists about psychiatric disorders and to advocate for what it calls “inclusionary social constructionism.” Through a comparison between the history of HIV/AIDS and the present state of schizophrenia in research and medical settings, the chapter illustrates and evaluates the space of possible characterizations of social construction by psychiatrists and philosophers of psychiatry.

Ethics Committees and Consultation in Mental Health

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Don C. Postema
Keyword(s):  
Ethics Education ◽  
Ethics Committees ◽  
The United States ◽  
Biomedical Ethics ◽  
Spiritual Beliefs ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

Understanding the role of ethics committees in providing ethics consultations, ethics education, and ethics-related policies is the context for exploring the relationship of ethics, psychiatry, and religious and spiritual beliefs. After a brief history of biomedical ethics in the United States since the mid-20th century, this chapter presents several case studies that exemplify frequently encountered tensions in these relationships. The central contention is that respecting these beliefs is not equivalent to acquiescing to ethical claims based on them. Rigorous critical reflection and psychiatric insight, coupled with the values embedded in the social practices of healthcare, provide the grounds for evaluating the weight and bearing of religious and spiritual beliefs in ethically complex cases. This is one contribution that ethics committees can make at the intersection of psychiatry and religion.

The role of cultural configurators in the formation of mental symptoms

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
German E. Berrios
Keyword(s):  
Psychiatric Disorders ◽  
Social Constructionism ◽  
Differences Of Opinion ◽  
Mental Symptoms

Chapter 12 is a commentary on Chapter 11, which covers the ideas surrounding the varieties of social constructionism and the problem of progress in psychiatry. It specifically addresses issues surrounding schizophrenia, differences of opinion about psychiatric disorders, and the term ‘inclusionary social constructionism’.

scholarly journals The Social Construction of Historical Traumas: The Polish Experience of the Uses of History in an Intelligentsia-dominated Polity

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (6) ◽  
pp. 911-931
Author(s):  
Tomasz Zarycki ◽  
Tomasz Warczok
Keyword(s):  
Social Construction ◽  
Historical Narrative ◽  
The West ◽  
Specific Nature ◽  
Polish Experience ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
Historical Identity ◽  
And Control

The article argues that Poland’s mainstream national historical narrative, at least as far as the last two centuries of history of the country is concerned, is full of ‘traumatic’ motives which are regularly used and developed in diverse current political and intellectual contexts. Polish history is imagined to a large extent as an endless chain of 200 years of suffering, caused, among other things, by occupations, wars and exploitation, which are usually seen as not fully recognized in other countries, in particular in the West. The article attempts first of all to explain this specific nature of Poland’s historical identity by the privileged role of the intelligentsia, understood as a specific type of elite based on possession and control of cultural capital. It reconstructs the historical rise of the intelligentsia and its impact on the mainstream narrative in question, pointing to a selective choice of potential ‘traumas’ which are assigned a national status. They may be seen as tools to build positions in what can be called the Polish ‘field of power’, to use the notion coined by Pierre Bourdieu. The particular configuration and recent history of the field of power in Poland is reconstructed in order to explain different strategies of what can be called the social and political construction of historical traumas in Poland.

Art and its Objects: William Ivins and the Reproduction of Art

1987 ◽  
Vol 35 (1_suppl) ◽  
pp. 65-98
Author(s):  
Gordon Fyfe
Keyword(s):  
Social Construction ◽  
Social History ◽  
Visual Communication ◽  
Fine Art ◽  
Modes Of Representation ◽  
The Social ◽  
Photographic Reproduction ◽  
History Of ◽  
Art Reproduction ◽  
The Relationship

This paper is a critique of the contribution of William Ivins's Prints and Visual Communication (1953) to an understanding of the meaning of fine art reproductions. Ivins showed that photographic reproduction was constructed in relation to, and displaced, older ways of reproducing art which were carried out by handicraft engravers. His analysis alerts us to the fact that ambiguity characterized art reproduction before photographs. Art reproductions, then, were interpretations in line based on conventional modes of representation – what Ivins calls a visual syntax. In this respect he enhances our understanding of the social construction of the artist. For Ivins the social history of reproduction seems to end with the camera. This completed an individuation of creativity ushered in with the Renaissance, but which was always qualified by the interfering visual syntax of craftsmen-interpreters. It is argued that the value of Ivins's account resides in its reconstruction of the relationship between handicraft engraving, fine art reproduction and aesthetic objects that have long since slipped from our consciousness.

Promoting the Dignity of the Child in Hospital

2003 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paula Reed ◽  
Pam Smith ◽  
Margaret Fletcher ◽  
Angela Bradding
Keyword(s):  
Social Construction ◽  
Subjective Experience ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
District General Hospital ◽  
Ethical Implications ◽  
Theoretical Position ◽  
The Social ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Relationship

This article aims to deconstruct the concept of dignity in a way that is meaningful, in particular to nurses and other health workers who seek to promote the dignity of children in their care. Despite the emphasis in a variety of codes and policies to promote dignity, there is a lack of a clear definition of dignity in the literature. In particular there is little reference to dignity, theoretically or empirically, as it relates to children. Without clarity it is not possible to act in an ethical way on behalf of children whose dignity could otherwise be compromised. The theoretical position taken has evolved from the medico-nursing and philosophical discourse concerning the nature of human dignity and more recent sociological texts that discuss the social construction of the child and childhood. The article is further influenced by additional insights derived from an ethnographic pilot study at a large district general hospital. This study was undertaken in an attempt to appreciate the subjective experience of dignity by children, and to begin to address the empirical gap in the literature and promote discussion. The concept of a macro and a micro dignity is discussed, together with the role of the nurse in articulating the relationship between the two. The importance of control and witnesses in the experience of dignity is discussed and, finally, also the ethical implications when seeking to promote the dignity of children.

Gender and Supervision: The Legitimation of Authority in Relationship to Task

1992 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 137-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanne Miller
Keyword(s):  
Social Factors ◽  
Personal Attributes ◽  
Job Complexity ◽  
Work Arrangements ◽  
Female Workers ◽  
The Social ◽  
Inherent Nature ◽  
Supervisory Practices ◽  
The Relationship

Most theories of bureaucratic organization legitimize hierarchical authority in terms of the economic and administrative imperatives of the production process. Rationales for specific levels of supervision emphasize the inherent nature of task activity (especially job complexity) and its related human-capital and organizational requirements. Personal attributes and the social differentiation of labor in the workplace are explicitly outside the legal-rational framework legitimizing the system of governance and job configuration. This study examines the relationship between job complexity and supervision for male and female workers and the economic and social factors that underlie the configuration of task and authority relations. The analysis suggests dramatic differences in the rationalization of work arrangements by gender—especially in the extent to which social status influences supervisory practices. Further, there appear to be over-time differences in the labor-market processes structuring progressions of jobs and thus normative work arrangements. The findings challenge common assumptions about bureaucratic authority and highlight the role of supervision in labor segmentation within the workplace.

Reflections on Writing a History of Women Teachers

1997 ◽  
Vol 67 (4) ◽  
pp. 635-658 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen Weiler
Keyword(s):  
Social Construction ◽  
Historical Narrative ◽  
Women Teachers ◽  
Historical Evidence ◽  
Feminist History ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Relationship

In this article, Kathleen Weiler reflects on the historiography of Country Schoolwomen, her recent study of women teachers in rural California. Using a broad definition of feminist research, Weiler summarizes some of the most salient issues currently under debate among feminist scholars. She raises questions about the nature of knowledge, the influence of language in the social construction of gender, and the importance of an awareness of subjectivity in the production of historical evidence. Using several cases from Country Schoolwomen, Weiler discusses the importance of considering the conditions under which testimony is given, both in terms of the dominant issues of the day — for example, the way womanliness or teaching is presented in the authoritative discourse — and the relationship between speaker and audience. She concludes that a feminist history that begins with a concern with the constructed quality of evidence moves uneasily between historical narrative and a self-conscious analysis of texts.

The role of food charity in Italy

2020 ◽  
pp. 79-110
Author(s):  
Sabrina Arcuri ◽  
Gianluca Brunori ◽  
Francesca Galli
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
National Context ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
Food Provision ◽  
Future Direction ◽  
Food Charity ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter forms the land case study for Italy. As with all empirical chapters it explores several key themes in relation to food charity in Italy: • the history of food charity in the national context and the relationship between the welfare state and charities; • the nature of and drivers behind contemporary food charity provision; • key changes in social policy and their impact on rising charitable food provision; • and the social justice implications of increasing need for charitable assistance with food. The chapter concludes with critical reflections on the future direction of food charity provision in Italy and the implications of this.

The ‘Economic’ in Indian Sociology: Genealogies, Disjunctions and Agenda

2021 ◽  
pp. 003802292110146
Author(s):  
Mufsin Puthan Purayil ◽  
Manish Thakur
Keyword(s):  
Developmental State ◽  
Division Of Labour ◽  
Sociological Study ◽  
Disciplinary History ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
Village Studies ◽  
Sociological Studies ◽  
The Relationship

A cursory glance at the century-old history of Indian sociology reveals its relative under-engagement with economic phenomena and processes. Although the ‘economic’ did get studied under the influence of agrarian and village studies, and certain apparently economic themes such as industry and labour did attract scholarly attention from some sociologists, we notice the absence of a sustained and robust academic tradition of sociological studies of the economy in India. There appears to have been an intellectual division of labour, where the study of economic issues was ceded to economists whereas sociologists remained jubilant with their studies of primordial institutions. This study attempts to locate this persistent disjunction between the social and the economic from the perspective of the disciplinary history. Of necessity, this calls for an examination of the relationship between sociology and economics, and the way it unfolded in post-independence India. To this end, this study discusses the role of the developmental state, the prevailing notions of expertise, and the differential treatment accorded to different social sciences’ disciplines. The paper concludes with the outlining of a disciplinary agenda for the sociological study of the ‘economic’.

scholarly journals Time and Space of Memories of Factory Workers in Construction of Collective Identity of First Uralmash Builders

2020 ◽  
pp. 55-75
Author(s):  
Natalia B. Gramatchikova ◽  
Lidia V. Enina
Keyword(s):  
Collective Identity ◽  
Factory Workers ◽  
Term Study ◽  
Official Discourse ◽  
Long Term Study ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Relationship

The article is the result of a long-term study of autobiographies and memoirs from the Fund of the First Builders of Uralmash, collected in 1967-1984 and dedicated to the construction of the plant (1926-1934). The question of the role of spatial and temporal markers in the construction of the collective identity of factory workers is considered. Particular attention is paid to the relationship between strong discursive practices and the “weak positions” of the official discourse, which allow authors to independently write their personal history into the history of the plant. The novelty of the research lies in the fact that the Foundation's documents are viewed not as a factual source, but as a way of creating collective and personal identity of factory workers in the process of forming the concept of the FIRST BUILDER and as a body of texts, which reflects the practice of constructing the “Soviet”. It is emphasized that a special perception of space (the plant and the social city of Uralmash) and the placement of oneself in a certain historical era (with the opposition “then-now”) unite most of the Foundation's texts, among the authors of which are workers of the plant of different specialties and social status. It is proved that the texts have a common chronotope associated with the axiological picture of the world and with the practice of social communication through the text.

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