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Behavior analysis and social constructionism: Some points of contact and departure

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Abstract

Social constructionists occasionally single out behavior analysis as the field of psychology that most closely resembles the natural sciences in its commitment to empiricism, and accuses it of suffering from many of the limitations to science identified by the postmodernist movement (e.g., K. J. Gergen, 1985a; Soyland, 1994). Indeed, behavior analysis is a natural science in many respects. However, it also shares with social constructionism important epistemological features such as a rejection of mentalism, a functional-analytic approach to language, the use of interpretive methodologies, and a reflexive stance on analysis. The current paper outlines briefly the key tenets of the behavior-analytic and social constructionist perspectives before examining a number of commonalties between these approaches. The paper aims to show that far from being a nemesis to social constructionism, behavior analysis may in fact be its close ally.

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  1. Department of Psychology, National University of Ireland, Maynooth, Maynooth, Co. Kildare, Ireland

    Bryan Roche & Dermot Barnes-Holmes

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  1. Bryan Roche
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Correspondence to Bryan Roche.

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An early version of this paper was presented at the Experimental Analysis of Behaviour Group conference, London, 1998. We thank two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments.

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Roche, B., Barnes-Holmes, D. Behavior analysis and social constructionism: Some points of contact and departure. BEHAV ANALYST 26, 215–231 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03392077

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