Social problems are prevailing conditions or perceived behaviors which have negative impacts on the wellbeing of the society at large. In other words, these adverse conditions and gaps between the expectations in the society and the reality in the society. Normally, the society tries to develop means by which it can address these social problems (Michailakis and Schirmer). Another description of social problems by Schneider states that social problems are activities of humans’ beings together with their socially constructed interactions in certain conditions of which they find to be troublesome. By definition, gender refers to a socially constructed term referring to male or female. Different genders come with different and distinct roles, relationships and norms that define how the society operates. However, the feeling of unbalanced co-existence of the genders has resulted in social problems in the society. This has been manifested through gender bias which is defined as the prejudice of individuals on the basis of sex (Michailakis and Schirmer).
The modern society is characterized by a lot of complexity in terms of structures that shape the society. In the 21st century, society is defined by generalization and differentiation of classes, minority cultures, and subcultures together with other aspects of social identity. This kind of set up in the society has enabled a wide range of perspectives that have aimed to explain and try to address the social problem. A good example of such complexity is while one society perceives there is gender discrimination in wealth distribution and resource access and allocation when women are not entitled to property rights, another societal perception disapproves the prejudice and argues that resources are secure in the hands of male figures such as fathers, husbands, and sons unlike when the resources are entrusted to mothers, wives and daughters. Such social inequalities are the baselines of social problems, which makes them perpetual to the extent that so many theories have to be formulated to address specific social problems. Therefore, the theoretical approach that this paper will focus on is the social constructionist approach (Michailakis and Schirmer).
The social constructionist approach
Berger and Luckmann present the masterminds of the social construction theory who were Berger and Luckmann. They based their arguments or tenets on the idea that individuals and groups mutually co-exist in a social set up for a duration of time create concepts of each other's doing. These perceived concepts over time become habits on to which the roles of the individuals in the society are anchored upon. Depending on the extent of influence of the habits, other social systems could adopt the habits to complement their social interactions. The theorists believed that this could explain the origin of different defined cultures and traditions in the present day society.
Social constructionist theory endeavors to give a unique approach to how social problems can be described vividly studied and understood (Schneider). The theory labels and categorizes the society into distinctive groups in relation to the observed social problems. This could be in terms of gender norms, criminal perceptions, immorality, ethnic inclinations and dominance and domestic violence. Despite the fact that the theory categorizes social groups in terms of the social problem in question, it narrows down to the problem itself. It is believed that this approach will ensure that the problem is not only addressed to some extent but also it is addressed with relevance to the social group in question (Berger and Luckmann).
The strengths and weaknesses of the social constructionist theory
The outstanding strength of the social constructionist theory is that by it constructing social problems from the prevailing conditions, it is able to distinguish one social problem from the other. A good example is when looking at cultural themes, all that the theory will focus on is the condition that derails the overall accepted cultural values. This way, a social problem like rape, promiscuity, and crime can be singled out (Berger and Luckmann).
One major weakness presented by the theory of social constructionism is that it does not give provisions for the diversity of conditions in the social set up. You find that one problematic condition resulting in a social problem in one social set up is the same condition that provides solutions in another social set up. This has made it difficult in harmonizing moral values in different social systems across the globe (Berger and Luckmann).
The relevance of the Theory in gender discrimination
Social constructionist theory addresses gender bias in that it divides agents of the social problem in various ways. These agents are cultural themes, conditions, and casual relations, people and solutions. Bearing in mind that gender bias is a social problem that cuts across these agents, the theory addresses the problem substantially. Through historical habitual behavior, the theory singles out cases of rape as a social evil. Rape cases have been reported to have affected the female gender in most cases. However, the reality is that even the male can be a victim with regards to rape (Michailakis and Schirmer).
Conclusion
It is evident that the social constructionist theory confirms that the problems being experienced in the modern society with relation to gender discrimination have been as a result of them being developed over a period of time and then adopted. The current society fights for women rights, to changes the way role had been defined in most of the social systems in existence. Such endeavors have created more identity problems with regards to gender. The theory, however, argues that the perspective of reality would give guidance on the best ways to provide solutions with regards to social problems such as gender bias.
Work Cited
Berger, Peter L, and Thomas Luckmann. The Social Construction of Reality: A treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge. New York: Anchor Books, 1966.
Michailakis, Dinitris, and Werner Schirmer. "Social Work and Social Problems: A contribution from systems theory and Constructionism." International Journal of Social Welfare (2004): 431-442.
Schneider, Joseph W. "Social Problems THeory: The Constructionist View." Annual Review of Socialogy (1985): 209-229.
