Social Constructionism

122 Words1 Pages
Social constructionism goes beyond the positivist thought of objects and claims that human action constructs meaningful reality rather than existed before consciousness (Crotty, 1998, p. 43). For constructionism, consciousness means referentiality, relatedness, directedness, and “aboutness”; it has nothing to do with purpose or deliberation. Intentionality does not reject objectivism or subjectivism, instead, what intentionality emphasizes is the interaction between the conscious subject and the object of the subject’s consciousness. Constructionists contend that representations of objects or problems in people’s minds vary from the corresponding actual objects or conditions on which they are based. More important, constructionists contend