WHAT USE IS SOCIOLOGY? THE CASE OF THE CONSTRUCTIONIST SOCIOLOGY OF SOCIAL PROBLEMS

Öz

Issues which are regarded as social problems have been a key element of the disciplinary identity of sociology. Sociologists have always been held responsible for understanding the root cause of social problems and formulating their solutions. On the other hand, conditions and behaviors which have been regarded as social problems have become issues which concerns specific fields of expertise. As a result, as a sub-discipline whose aim is to develop an all-encompassing perspective towards social problems, sociology of social problems had struggled to find its position regarding the issues. The development of the sub-discipline in the American sociology had proceeded under the influence of structural-functionalism. The influence of phenomenology and ethnomethodology fostered the emergence of the labelling theory which was followed by a more comprehensive program named as the constructionist sociology of social problems. It is important for a sociological theory of social problems to contribute to the solution of the problems it studies on. However, the key assumptions of constructionism have rendered this perspective sensitive towards the possible involvement of sociologists in the emergence and development of the social problems which were their object of knowledge in the first place. The aim of this study is to provide an inquiry on the extent to which this sensitivity hinders the capacity of constructionism to produce knowledge which can be used to provide solutions to social problems.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Sociology of Social Problems
• Sociology of Deviance
• Labelling Theory
• Social Constructionism
• Knowledge Utilization

SOSYOLOJİK BİLGİ NE İŞE YARAR? İNŞACI SOSYAL SORUNLAR SOSYOLOJİSİ VAKASI

Öz

Sosyolojinin disipliner kimliği sosyal sorun başlığı altında ele alınan konularla çerçevesinde şekillenmiş, sosyologların bu sorunların nedenini kavraması ve ortadan kaldırılmaları yönünde çözüm önerisi sunmaları beklenmiştir. Öte yandan, sosyal sorun olarak görülen durumlar ve davranışlar başka disiplinlerin uzmanlık alanlarının konusu haline gelmiş, sosyal sorunları bütüncül olarak ele almayı hedefleyen sosyal sorunlar sosyolojisi bu süreçte kendisini konumlandırmakta zorlanmıştır. ABD sosyolojisi içerisinde gelişen alan öncelikle yapısal-işlevselciliğin etkisi altında gelişmiştir. Fenomenoloji ve etnometodolojinin etkisi ile birlikte önce etiketleme kuramı, ardından daha bütünlüklü bir program olma iddiasındaki inşacı sosyal sorunlar sosyolojisi ortaya çıkmıştır. Sosyal sorunlara yönelik bir sosyolojik kuramın bu sorunların çözümüne katkıda bulunması önem arz etmektedir. Öte yandan inşacılığın temel kabulleri bu yaklaşımı sosyologların üzerinde çalıştıkları sosyal sorunların oluşum ve gelişiminde etken olması ihtimaline karşı hassas kılmıştır. Bu çalışmanın amacı, bu hassasiyetin inşacılığın sosyal sorunların çözümünde kullanılabilecek bilgi üretmesine engel oluşturup oluşturmadığına yönelik bir değerlendirme yapmaktır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Sosyal Sorunlar Sosyolojisi
• Sapkınlık Sosyolojisi
• Etiketleme Kuramı
• Sosyal İnşacılık
• Bilgiden Faydalanma

Kaynakça

1. Abrams, P. (1985). The Uses of British Sociology, 1831-1981, Essays on the History of British Sociological Research, (Ed.: M. Bulmer), ss.181-204, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
2. Albæk, E. (1989). Policy Evaluation: Design and Utilization, Knowledge in Society, 2(4), 6-19.
3. Barmaki, R. (2019). On the Origin of “Labeling” Theory in Criminology: Frank Tannenbaum and the Chicago School of Sociology, Deviant Behavior, 40(2), 256-271.
4. Becker, H. S. (1953). Becoming a Marihuana User, American Journal of Sociology, 59(3), 235-242.
5. Becker, H. S. (1955). Marihuana Use and Social Control, Social Problems, 3(1), 35-44.
6. Becker, H. S. (1963). Outsiders: Studies in the Sociology of Deviance, Free Press, New York.
7. Becker, H. S. (1967). Whose Side Are We On?, Social Problems, 14(3), 239-247.
8. Becker, H. S. (1974). Labelling Theory Reconsidered, Deviance and Social Control, (Eds.: P. Rock ve M. McIntosh), ss.41-66, Tavistock Publications, London.

9. Berry, B. (1994). The Isolation of Crime, Law, and Deviance from the Core of Sociology, The American Sociologist, 25(2), 5-20.
10. Besnard, P. (1988). True Nature of Anomie, Sociological Theory, 6(1), 91-95.
11. Best, J. (1995). Constructionism in Context, Images of Issues: Typifying Contemporary Social Problems, Second Edition, (Ed.: J. Best), ss.337-351, Aldine De Gruyter, New York.
12. Best, J. (2013). Constructionist Social Problems Theory, Annals of The International Communication Association, 36(1), 237-269.
13. Best, J. (2018). Constructionist Studies of Social Problems: How We Got Here, and Where We Ought to Go, Societàmutamentopolitica, 9(18), 53-67.
14. Blumer, H. (1971). Social Problems as Collective Behavior, Social Problems, 18(3), 298-306.
15. Burawoy, M. (2005). For Public Sociology, American Sociological Review, 70(1), 4-28.
16. Burgess, E. W. (1953). The Aim of the Society for The Study of Social Problems, Social Problems, 1(1), 2-3.
17. Burr, V. (2015). Social Constructionism, Third Edition, Routledge, London.
18. Caplan, N. (1979). The Two-Communities Theory and Knowledge Utilization, American Behavioral Scientist, 22(3), 459-470.
19. Conrad, P. (1975). The Discovery of Hyperkinesis: Notes on the Medicalization of Deviant Behavior, Social Problems, 23(1), 12–21.
20. Coser, L. A. (1956). The Functions of Social Conflict, Free Press, New York.
21. Coser, L. A. (1971). Masters of Sociological Thought: Ideas in Historical and Social Context, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc., New York.
22. Dahrendorf, R. (1958). Out of Utopia: Toward a Reorientation of Sociological Analysis, American Journal of Sociology, 64(2), 115-127.
23. Davies, H.; Nutley, S.; ve Smith, P. (2000). Introducing Evidence-Based Policy and Practice in Public Service, What Works? Evidence-Based Policy and Practice in Public Services, (Eds.: H. T. O. Davies, S. M. Nutley ve P. C. Smith), ss.1-11, Policy Press, Bristol.
24. Davis, K. (1959). The Myth of Functional Analysis as a Special Method in Sociology and Anthropology, American Sociological Review, 24(6), 757-772.
25. Dello Buono, R. A. (2015). Reimagining Social Problems, Social Problems, 62(3), 331-342.
26. Dentler, R. A., ve Erikson, K. T. (1959). The Functions of Deviance in Groups, Social Problems, 7(2), 98-107.
27. Dolgon, C. (2022). The 2021 SSSP Presidential Address: Revolutionary Sociology—Truth, Healing, Reparations, and Restructuring, Social Problems, 69(4), 887-902.
28. Douglas, J. D. (1970). Deviance and Order in a Pluralist Society, Theoretical Sociology: Perspectives and Developments, (Eds.: J. C. McKinney ve E. A. Tiryakian), ss.367-401, Meredith Corporation, New York.
29. Erikson, K. T. (1962). Notes on the Sociology of Deviance, Social Problems, 9(4), 307-314.
30. Frank, L. K. (1925). Social Problems, American Journal of Sociology, 30(4), 462-473.
31. Freidson, E. (1970). Profession of Medicine: A Study of the Sociology of Applied Knowledge, Dodd, Mead & Company.
32. Fuller, R. C. (1937). Sociological Theory and Social Problems, Social Forces, 15(4), 496-502.
33. Fuller, R. C. (1938). The Problem of Teaching Social Problems, American Journal of Sociology, 44(3), 415-435.
34. Fuller, R. C., ve Myers, R. R. (1941a). Some Aspects of a Theory of Social Problems, American Sociological Review, 6(1), 24-32.
35. Fuller, R. C., ve Myers, R. R. (1941b). The Natural History of a Social Problem, American Sociological Review, 6(3), 320-329.
36. Gibbs, J. P. (1966). Conceptions of Deviant Behavior: The Old and the New, Pacific Sociological Review, 9(1), 9-14.
37. Goffman, E. (1961). Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and other Inmates, Anchor Books, New York.
38. Goffman, E. (1968). Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity, Penguin Books, Middlesex.
39. Goode, E. (2002). Does the Death of the Sociology of Deviance Claim Make Sense?, The American Sociologist, 33(3), 107-118.
40. Goode, E., ve Ben-Yehuda, N. (1994). Moral Panics: Culture, Politics, and Social Construction, Annual Review of Sociology, 20(1), 149-171.
41. Gouldner, A. W. (1968). The Sociologist as Partisan: Sociology and the Welfare State, The American Sociologist, 3(2), 103-116.
42. Gouldner, A. W. (1971). The Coming Crisis of Western Sociology, Equinox Books, New York.
43. Gusfield, J. R. (1981). The Culture of Public Problems: Drinking-Driving and the Symbolic Order, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
44. Gusfield, J. R. (1989). Constructing the Ownership of Social Problems: Fun and Profit in the Welfare State, Social Problems, 36(5), 431-441.
45. Hacking, I. (1999). The Social Construction of What?, Harvard University Press, Cambridge.
46. Hall, S.; Chritcher, C.; Jefferson, T.; Clarke, J. ve Roberts, B. (1978). Policing The Crisis: Mugging, The State, and Law and Order. London: Macmillan.
47. Hart, H. (1923). What is a Social Problem? American Journal of Sociology, 29(3), 345-352.
48. Hauser, P. M. (1949). Social Science and Social Engineering, Philosophy of Science, 16(3), 209-218.
49. Hazelrigg, L. E. (1986). Is There a Choice Between “Constructionism” and “Objectivism”? Social Problems, 33(6), S1-S13.
50. Hillbert, R. A. (1989). Durkheim and Merton on Anomie: An Unexplored Contrast and its Derivatives, Social Problems, 36(3), 242-250.
51. Huaco, G. A. (1986). Ideology and General Theory: The Case of Sociological Functionalism, Comparative Studies in Society and History, 28(1), 34-54.
52. Ibarra, P. R. (2009). Problematic Sociality: Uncertainty and the Study of Social Problems, The American Sociologist, 40(1/2), 79-88.
53. Ibarra, P. R. (2019). Five Ways to Improve Constructionist Craft in Social Problems Inquiries: Notes from an Apprenticeship, The American Sociologist, 50((2), 195-203.
54. Janowitz, M. (1969). Sociological Models and Social Policy. ARSP: Archiv Für Rechts-Und Sozialphilosophie/Archives for Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy, 55(3), 305-321.
55. Kitsuse, J. I. (1962). Societal Reaction to Deviant Behavior: Problems of Theory and Method, Social Problems, 9(3), 247-256.
56. Kitsuse, J. I. ve Cicourel, A. V. (1963). A Note on the Use of Official Statistics, Social Problems, 11(2), 131-139.
57. Kitsuse, J. I., ve Spector, M. (1973). Toward a Sociology of Social Problems: Social Conditions, Value-Judgments, and Social Problems, Social Problems, 20(4), 407-419.
58. Kitsuse, J. I., ve Spector, M. (1975). Social Problems and Deviance: Some Parallel Issues, Social Problems, 22(5), 584-594.
59. Latour, B. (1987). Science in Action: How to Follow Scientists and Engineers through Society, Harvard University Press, Cambridge.
60. Lee, E. B., ve Lee, A. M. (1976). The Society for the Study of Social Problems: Parental Recollections and Hopes, Social Problems, 24(1), 4-14.
61. Lemert, E. M (1951). Social Pathology, Macgraw-Hill, New York.
62. Lemert, E. M. (1974). Beyond Mead: Reaction to Deviance, Social Problems, 21(4), 457-468.
63. Lerner, D. ve Lasswell, H. D. (Eds.) (1951). The Policy Sciences: Recent Developments in the Scope and Method, Stanford University Press, California.
64. Liazos, A. (1972). The Poverty of the Sociology of Deviance: Nuts, Sluts, and Perverts, Social Problems, 20(1), 103-120.
65. Mankoff, M. (1968). On Alienation, Structural Strain, and Deviancy, Social Problems, 16(1), 114-116.
66. Marks, S. R. (1974). Durkheim's Theory of Anomie, American Journal of Sociology, 80(2), 329-363.
67. Mauss, A. L. (1975). Social Problems as Social Movements, J. B. Lippincott, Philadelphia.
68. McCrea, F. B. (1983). The Politics of Menopause: The “Discovery” of a Deficiency Disease, Social Problems, 31(1), 111-123.
69. McNickle Rose, V. (1977). Rape as a Social Problem: A Byproduct of the Feminist Movement, Social Problems, 25(1), 75-89.
70. Merton, R. K. (1938). Social Structure and Anomie, American Sociological Review, 3(5), 672–682.
71. Merton, R. K. (1957). Social Theory and Social Structure, The Free Press, New York.
72. Merton, R. K. (1976). Introduction: The Sociology of Social Problems, Contemporary Social Problems, Fourth Edition, (Eds.: R. K. Merton ve R. Nisbet), s.3-43, Harcourt, New York.
73. Miller, J. (2011). Presidential Address: Social Justice Work: Purpose-Driven Social Science, Social Problems, 58(1), 1-20.
74. Miller, J. M., Wright, R. A., ve Dannels, D. (2001). Is Deviance “Dead”? The Decline of a Sociological Research Specialization, The American Sociologist, 32(3), 43-59.
75. Ogburn, W. F. (1923). Social Change with respect to Culture and Original Nature, New York: B. W. Huebsch, Inc.
76. Olsen, M. E. (1965). Durkheim's Two Concepts of Anomie, The Sociological Quarterly, 6(1), 37-44.
77. Pawluch, D. (2019). On the Unbearable Lightness of Being a Constructionist. The American Sociologist, 50(2), 204-219.
78. Perrucci, R. (2001). Inventing Social Justice: SSSP and the Twenty-First Century, Social Problems, 48(2), s.159-167.
79. Pfohl, S. (1990). Re-Forming the SSSP: Questions of “Praxis”, The American Sociologist, 21(4), 331-336.
80. Pope, W. (1975). Durkheim as a Functionalist, Sociological Quarterly, 16(3), 361-379.
81. Rains, P. (1975). Imputations of Deviance: A Retrospective Essay on the Labeling Perspective, Social Problems, 23(1), 1-11.
82. Saram, P. A. (1979). The Significance of Max Weber's Writings to the Study of Deviance, ARSP: Archiv für Rechts-und Sozialphilosophie/Archives for Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy, 545-571.
83. Schneider, J. W. (1985), Defining the Definitional Perspective on Social Problems, Social Problems, 32(3), 232-234.
84. Schneider, J. (2018). The Challenges of Conceptualizing Social Problems, The Cambridge Handbook of Social Problems, Vol. 1, (Ed.: A. J. Treviño), ss. 3-21, Cambridge University Press.
85. Schur, E. M. (1963). Recent Social Problems Texts: An Essay-Review, Social Problems, 10(3), 287-292.
86. Schur, E. M. (1969). Reactions to Deviance: A Critical Assessment, American Journal of Sociology, 75(3), 309-322.
87. Scott, M. B., & Turner, R. (1965). Weber and the Anomic Theory of Deviance, The Sociological Quarterly, 6(3), 233-240.
88. Skura, B. (1976). Constraints on a Reform Movement: Relationships Between SSSP and ASA, 1951-1970, Social Problems, 24(1), 15-36.
89. Spector, M. (1976). Labeling Theory in Social Problems: A Young Journal Launches a New Theory, Social Problems, 24(1), 69-75.
90. Spector, M., ve Kitsuse, J. I. (1973). Social Problems: A Re-Formulation, Social Problems, 21(2), 145-159.
91. Spector, M. ve Kitsuse, J. I. ((1977). Constructing Social Problems, Cummings, Menlo Park, CA.
92. Strong, P. M. (1979). Sociological İmperialism and the Profession of Medicine A Critical Examination of the Thesis of Medical Imperialism, Social Science & Medicine. Part A: Medical Psychology & Medical Sociology, 13A(2), 199–215.
93. Sumner, C. (1994). The Sociology of Deviance: An Obituary, Continuum, New York.
94. Sutherland, E. H. (1945). Social Pathology, American Journal of Sociology, 50(6), 429-435.
95. Thibodeaux, J. (2014). Three Versions of Constructionism and their Reliance on Social Conditions in Social Problems Research, Sociology, 48(4), 829-837.
96. Thio, A. (1973). Class Bias in The Sociology of Deviance, The American Sociologist, 8(1), 1-12.
97. Thomas, W. I. ve Znaniecki, F. (1927). The Polish Peasant in Europe and America, Volume 2, Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
98. Tierney, K. J. (1982). The Battered Women Movement and the Creation of the Wife Beating Problem, Social Problems, 29(3), 207-220.
99. Treviño, A. J. (2012). The Challenge of Service Sociology, Social Problems, 59(1), 2-20.
100. Tumin, M. (1965). The Functionalist Approaches to Social Problems, Social Problems, 12(4), 379-388.
101. Turner, J. H. (2001). Social Engineering: Is This Really as Bad as It Sounds? Sociological Practice, 3(2), 99-120.
102. Waller, W. (1936). Social Problems and the Mores, American Sociological Review, 1(6), 922-933.
103. Weber, M. (1949). The Methodology of the Social Sciences, (Çev. E. A. Shils ve H. A. Finch), The Free Press, Illinois.
104. Weinberg, D. (2014). Contemporary Social Constructionism, Temple University Press, Philadelphia.
105. Weiss, C. H. (1977). Research for Policy's Sake: The Enlightenment Function of Social Research, Policy Analysis, 3(4), 531-545.
106. Wirth, L. (1940). Ideological Aspects of Social Disorganization, American Sociological Review, 5(4), 472-482.
107. Wittrock, B. (1991). Social Knowledge and Public Policy: Eight Models of Interaction, Social Sciences and Modern States: National Experiences and Theoretical Crossroads, (Eds.: P. Wagner; C. Hirschon; Weiss; B. Wittrock ve H. Wollmann), ss.333-353, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
108. Woolgar, S. (1983), Irony in the Social Study of Science, Science Observed: Perspectives on the Social Study of Science, (Eds.: K. D. Knorr-Cetina ve M. Mulkay), ss.239-266, Sage, London.
109. Woolgar, S., ve Pawluch, D. (1985). Ontological Gerrymandering: The Anatomy of Social Problems Explanations, Social Problems, 32(3), 214-227.
110. Wright, C. W., ve Randall, S. C. (1978). Contrasting Conceptions of Deviance in Sociology: Functionalism and Labelling Theory, British Journal of Criminology, 18(3), 217-231.
111. Wright, C., ve Hubert, R. E. (1980). Value Implications of the Functional Theory of Deviance, Social Problems, 28(2), 205-219.
112. Zola, I. K. (1972). Medicine as an Institution of Social Control, The Sociological Review, 20(4), 487–504.