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The construction of social reality as a process of representational naturalization. The case of the social representation of drugs
Author(s) -
Negura Lilian,
Plante Nathalie
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal for the theory of social behaviour
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.615
H-Index - 51
eISSN - 1468-5914
pISSN - 0021-8308
DOI - 10.1111/jtsb.12264
Subject(s) - naturalization , objectification , epistemology , social reality , sociology , process (computing) , object (grammar) , representation (politics) , social constructionism , subject (documents) , social representation , structuring , psychology , social psychology , social science , political science , computer science , law , artificial intelligence , politics , philosophy , population , demography , alien , census , operating system , library science
Abstract This theoretical paper explores the role of social representations in the construction of social reality. Even though this question has been the subject of many debates, the actual processes and mechanisms through which social representations contribute to the construction of social reality have rarely been explored. Citing key works on the topic, the paper explores the role of the genesis of social representations in this process. Each stage of the objectification of social representations (selective construction, structuring schematization, and naturalization) is examined in detail. A more in‐depth analysis of the naturalization process is provided by dividing it into four phases: (1) recognition; (2) elimination of contradictions; (3) instrumental use; and (4) validation through experience. These phases are illustrated using the example of the construction of the social object of drugs in our contemporary society. The present examination of the naturalization process in relation to drugs reveals the mechanisms through which the reality of drugs as a social problem has been constructed and reproduced in our society.