Chapter 2

While reviewing chapter 2 the quotation on the Social constructionist perspective states "we NEVER experience the world directly."

Reading the paragraph before which introduces the social constructionist theory it all clicks or somewhat fits. The four cultural tools are symbolic codes, or language. Many other cultures have their own language. Such as English, Spanish, French, Hmong, Vietnamese, Mandarin and many others not including tribes located around the globe.

The second cultural tool is cognitive customs which are the ways we've been taught to process information. Further into the cognitive customs it does make sense we are not all raised by the same parents or around the same environment therefore each individual will process information in a different manner.

The third is cultural traditions which are the beliefs, attitudes, and values that make up our cultural traditions. An example of different cultural beliefs attitudes and values would be with the Muslim faith. I remember during high school my best friend would fast for Ramadan. During these 30 days my friend could only eat food when the sun would set. She would go home early from school or be excused from soccer practice because she was fasting. I could not understand how she could not eat all day! but she said with years of doing it you get accustomed to it.

The last cultural tool are the sets of roles and rules that guide our actions and they shape experiences and how we talk about the world around us. An example could be the role of the mother. The image of the stay at home mom has now evolved into the working mom. More and more women are deciding to build their own careers as well as be a mother.

The social constructionist perspective maintains that we never experience the world directly because we are our own architects for our world. Which can be good as well as bad because of the lack of exposure to other worlds.