A Summary of the Social Construction Theory
Social construction theory is a theory of knowledge in sociology that examines. The development of jointly constructed understandings of our world. This theory is based upon two assumptions; that humans behave rationally according to their perceived view of the social realm. And that language is the most essential tool for humans to construct their social reality. The Social construction theory is concerned with the way. That society categorizes different groups of people and favors some over others.
Humans are participants in the social construction theory from the day they are born. Society generally expects different behavioral outcomes depending on the gender, race, language, wealth etc. of an individual or their family. Social construction theory explains how individuals evolve different viewpoints of the world based on where they come from. Through the categorization of people into different groups politicians will develop certain policies that will cater towards benefiting a certain group of people while placing a burden on others.
In the case of Schneider and Ingram their theory of social construction deals with target populations, which "refers to the cultural characterizations or popular images of the persons or groups whose behavior and well-being are affected by public policy" (334). Different social groups are evaluated normatively and empirically resulting in them being either categorized as positive (ex. elderly, veterans, dependents) or negative (ex. rich, minorities, deviants).
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The social construction of target populations is increasingly influential on the political process. Strongly supported and powerful target population groups demand respect from their representatives. "Social constructions of target populations become important in the policy effectiveness calculus because elected officials have to pay attention to the logical connection between the target groups and the goals that might be achieved" (336). Also, if politicians want a group of people to change their behavior they can construct a policy to do so authoritatively (ex. rehabilitation programs) instead of addressing the core cause of the problem itself (ex. drug and alcohol consumption).
Change of the social construction of target groups is brought on by behavioral change that can be facilitated by policy changes and their rationale behind them. If one group is facing the burden of current policies they are more likely to realign themselves so that they might become the beneficiary of policies in the future. The rationale behind policy can be used as a tool to justify the benefits and burdens of certain policy decisions. "The kinds of rationales differ depending upon the social construction of the target population and can be used either to perpetuate or to change social constructions" (339).
Politicians also attempt to manipulate the image of socially constructed target groups in an effort to keep politically tumultuous items off of the agenda. This can be done by placing burdens on positively viewed groups and placing benefits with the negatively viewed groups. Dramatic events can also serve as a catalyst for change in social construction. If a positively viewed group is portrayed in negative light then policy dynamics change towards viewing a different group in a positive light.
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