Volume 9, No. 1, Art. 44 – January 2008

Social Constructionist Psychology and its Application. Possibilities for a Reorientation

Johannes von Tiling (Germany)

Abstract: Social constructionism currently is understood as a metatheoretical alternative to positivism. It serves many social and cultural scientists as a point of reference. The possibilities to understand it as a psychological program of research that leaves space for agency and subjectivity usually are neglected. Promoting a dialogue with mainstream psychology constitutes one way of fostering social constructionist psychology. In addition, a theoretically productive conception of social constructionist psychology cannot do without reference to cultural psychology. An important advantage of such a conception lies in the increased number of possibilities for practical applications in hospitals, schools and factories. Whereas present applications of social constructionism tend to promote the postmodernization and individualization of the client, applied social constructionist psychology avoids these concomitant effects.

Key words: social constructionism, cultural psychology, critical realism, narrative therapy, applied psychology

This contribution is only available as a full text in the German language. German text

Volume 9, No. 1   Table of Contents

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© 2008 Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research
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