Deviance theories?

Question

What is the constructionist theory? Is it the same as the functionalist theory? I need to explain why society promotes deviance according to the constructionist theories.

Thanks for your help

Answer 1

No offense, Canadian, but I would politely differ with your definition of Constructionism as it applies to sociology (although it's a perfect explanation within psychology, learning theory).  The major tenets of the perspective were put forth in the book, The Social Construction of Reality by Berger & Luckmann, although they had prior influences such as Piaget. The idea is that there is not much of an objective reality per se (and even if there is, we can know little about it), and that most of what we know about reality is socially shaped. In the Sociology of Deviance, a social constructionist approach puts forth the assertion that there is no objective right and wrong way to behave - there is no objective "normal and "deviant"; what we define as deviant is socially determined. Hence, in Salem, Massachusetts, deviants were often defined as "witches" - it was a social disease, not an objective reality of having witches. The category, once created, does, however, have objective consequences - the definitions aren't 100% real, but the consequences are in social constructionist perspectives. Some of the people killed during the Salem witch trials really did believe they were witches.

To give  a more recent example - in the 1950s in the US, it would have been unthinkable that a juvenile would be sentenced to Death Row, even though there was a category of deviant behavior collectively known as "juvenile delinquency" - a social problem that could be socially rehabilitated. By the 1980s, even though "juvenile delinquency" had become an archaic term, the rise in "violent juvenile offenders" (the new socially defined category of deviance) was used to justify sentencing 13-year olds to Death Row - and a host of other "juvenile justice laws," which are really juvenile INJUSTICE laws.

Constructionism is not the same as functionalism - Candian's definition of functionalism is right on.

Answer 2

Constructionism (learning theory)

Constructionist learning is inspired by constructivist theories of learning that propose that learning is an active process wherein learners are actively constructing mental models and theories of the world around them. Constructionism holds that learning can happen most effectively when people are actively making things in the real world. Constructionism is connected with experiential learning and builds on some of the ideas of Jean Piaget.

Seymour Papert defined constructionism in a proposal to the National Science Foundation entitled Constructionism: A New Opportunity for Elementary Science Education as follows: "The word constructionism is a mnemonic for two aspects of the theory of science education underlying this project. From constructivist theories of psychology we take a view of learning as a reconstruction rather than as a transmission of knowledge. Then we extend the idea of manipulative materials to the idea that learning is most effective when part of an activity the learner experiences as constructing a meaningful product."

Functionalism (sociology)

In the social sciences, specifically sociology and sociocultural anthropology, functionalism (also called functional analysis) is a sociological paradigm that originally attempted to explain social institutions as collective means to fill individual biological needs. Later, it came to focus on the ways in which social institutions fill social needs, especially social stability. Functionalism is a major sociological tradition, alongside other schools of thought, such as Conflict Theory and Interactionism. The theory is associated with Émile Durkheim and more recently with Talcott Parsons. It was developed by other sociologists in the 20th century and was a popular idea until the 1970s when it came under criticism from new ideas.

Functionalism is about the structure and workings of society. Functionalists see society as made up of inter-dependent sections which work together to fulfill the functions necessary for the survival of society as a whole. People are socialized into roles and behaviors which fulfill the needs of society. Functionalists believe that behavior in society is structural. They believe that rules and regulations help organize relationships between members of society. Values provide general guidelines for behavior in terms of roles and norms. These institutions of society such as the family, the economy, the educational and political systems, are major aspects of the social structure. Institutions are made up of interconnected roles or inter-related norms. For example, inter-connected roles in the institution of the family are of wife, mother, husband, father, son and daughter.