A lecture on social construction, looking specifically at the social construction of childhood, ideology, stereotypes, moral panics and scapegoats.

1. Social constructs

2. A very simple definition
“A product of society or culture, not of biology”
(Moore et al, p.66)

3. Key concepts
Ideology- a powerful set of ideas.
Stereotypes- An oversimplified idea or image about a certain group of people
that is widely accepted by others.
Scapegoats- a group blamed for social ills, regardless of their involvement.
Moral panics- a period of public anxiety surrounding a specific group of
individuals or a specific issue.
Social constructionism- A social theory based on the idea that all elements of
society and social life are socially constructed.

4. Some concepts related to social constructions
we’ve encountered already
- Stereotypes
- Scapegoats
- Moral panics

5. Stereotypes
A stereotype can be considered a oversimplification of a group of
people that is widely accepted by others but may not be accurate.
Why do stereotypes exist?
- Allows people to make sense of cultural difference and diversity in
society.
- Media representations (what does this tell us about power?)
- Lack of exposure to other social/cultural/political groups.

6. Scapegoats
A person or group that is blamed of crimes, faults or ‘deviance’ because
it is convenient to others, not because it is necessarily true.
Examples of some scapegoats- When looking at new right theories of
the family and social inequality we have seen that lone parents and the
unemployed were scapegoats.
Again, what do scapegoats tell us about power, ideology and structure?

7. Moral panics
Cohen (1972)- Folk devils and moral panics
- The social or media production of crime and deviant groups.
- In the spring of 1964 the tabloid press claimed there were violent
clashes taking places between Mods and Rockers. During his research
Cohen could find little evidence of these clashes taking place…
- Media report and social responses result in moral panics, which are
characterised by 1)group identified as problematic 2) creating
symbols around the threat 3) Public concern 4) response from
authorities aka moral entrepreneurs 5) social change.

8. Defining a social construct
Jary and Jary (1996, p.605)
“ A formulation… [used] in sociology to emphasis the way in which
social institutions or social life generally is socially produced rather than
naturally given or determined.”
James and James (2008, p.122)
“a theoretical perspective that explores the ways in which “reality” is
negotiated in everyday life through people’s interactions and through
sets of discourses’”

9. How can we tell is a concept is socially
constructed?
Social constructs are usually made visible by looking at how they are
interpreted through time and across cultures. If the concept isn’t
consistent across time, for example femininity was very different in the
Victorian era, with the accepted idea that children should be seen and
not heard, then it hints that it is socially constructed. Looking at the
concept across cultures can give further weight to the idea that the
concept is socially constructed. Looking at femininity again, this differs
across cultures with different body shapes, roles and characteristics
being seen as ‘feminine’.

10. The social construction of childhood
Does childhood change through time?
Does childhood change across cultures?

11. Research on the social construction of
childhood.
Ariès (1979)
Childhood as a recent ‘invention. Looked at art and literature from the
middle ages, to the modern age. Found that children were expected to
work earlier than modern children and the law made no distinction
between children and adults.
Cunningham (2005)
Talks about the re-invention of childhood, like Ariès took a longitudinal
approach, looks at changes in moral understandings of childhood and
the rights of of children.

12. Research on the social construction of
childhood.
Pollock (1983)
Pollock is very critical of Ariès and claims that his methods of analysis
are flawed and that in order to understand childhood we need to look
at actual parent-child relationships.
Zelizer (1985)
Looks at childhood in the USA, in particular social meanings. Children
went from being earners, to ‘economically useless’ and then in turn
‘emotionally priceless’ to their parents.

13. Activity
How do you think stereotypes affect relationships between different
groups?
Do you think it is important to move past stereotypes?
What are some of the positives and negatives of stereotypes?
How can we change stereotypical thinking?

14. Activity
What purpose do scapegoats serve?
What are some of the key characteristics of a moral panic?
Using the definitions given of a social construct, can you think of other
concepts that could be considered social constructs?
What role do structure and agency play in concepts like stereotypes,
scapegoats and social concepts?