Download Social Construction of Reality

SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF
REALITY
Examples of how what ‘we make up’ can have very real
outcomes.
PLACEBO
A placebo is a drug that is given in medical studies to
determine the effect of new medicine.
Placebo work best in pain and
subjective outcomes
In 2004 two Danish scientists analyzed 42 trials,
extending the data pool to more than eleven
thousand patients. For trials with patientreported outcomes, a placebo effect has been
detected in 30 percent of the cases.
In antidepressants, a very large amount of benefit
is due to the placebo effect.
In a total of more than nineteen thousand patients
where antidepressant drugs have been tested
against placebo, it came out that the
antidepressants have reduced the depressive
symptoms by 40 percent and the placebo have
reduced them by 30 percent.
CRIME AND THE ELDERLY
NEW YORK CITY -1976
3 daily papers and 5 local television
stations reported a surge of violence against
elderly people.
This crime wave lasted about 7 weeks- especially
during November and December of 1976
One consequence of this crime wave was the new
type of crime
“Crime against the elderly”
Which includes typical victims, offenders
and circumstances.
SOCIALLY CONSTRUCTED STATUSES


Victims- elderly white individuals who had not
left the city because of lack of financial resources
Offenders- black or hispanic youth with juvenile
histories
Public outrage about these crimes was immediate and
The Mayor of New York City criticized the justice
system and criminal courts (the mayor just
happened to be preparing for a re-election campaign)
The New York City Police Department
gave its Senior Citizens Robbery Unit
funding to have an expanded ‘plainclothes operation’
New York State legislators introduced bills
to make juvenile records available to a judge at the time
of sentencing ( to deny 16-19 year olds juvenile status if they
victimized an elderly person AND mandate prison sentences)
THE REALITY
There was NO official report from the NYPD that
there was a crime wave or trend
 There was NO significant increase in crime for
elderly
 In 1976 there was an increase for ALL age
groups when looking at crime victimization
 Police statistics showed that yes there was a
continuing increase in victimization of the elderly
but no more than any other group
 The homicide rate actually goes AGAINST the
media presentation of a crime wave.

SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF REALITY
If we think that something is realit is real in it’s consequences.