Exploring the Potential of the Theory of Social Representations in                Community-Based Health Research—and Vice Versa?

Howarth, Caroline; Foster, Juliet; Dorrer, Nike

doi:10.1177/1359105304040889

Cited by 65 publications

(64 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…In particular, we need to examine how particular representations may impact on people's sense of wellbeing, identity and agency, how they maintain, justify or defend particular versions of reality, how they may encourage or discourage specific social practices, how they support or challenge relations of power and inequality among social groups in a society, and how they come to legitimise or delegitimise the current economic, social and political order (Howarth, 2004(Howarth, , 2006a(Howarth, , 2006b. Finally, adopting a critical agenda in social representations research also necessitates highlighting how the multiplicity, diversity and contestation in social representations may actually provide potential spaces for communication, reflection, critique, opposition and change (Howarth, 2006a;Howarth et al, 2004). The plurality and hybridity of meanings (Howarth, 2006a) inherent in this theory may also serve as a possible venue to surface the voices of marginalised groups in society.…”

Section: A Critical Agenda For Social Representations Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Research within this framework has mainly focused on understanding how people construct, defend, contest and transform multiple, dynamic and competing knowledge systems about controversial social objects in everyday encounters, cultural practices and social relations (Howarth, 2006b;Howarth et al, 2004). Indeed, it is this conceptualisation of meaning as continuously produced, negotiated, contested and transformed (Howarth, 2006a;Moscovici, 1988) that made the theory highly appropriate for studying controversial social objects, such as foreign aid.…”

Section: Multiple Diverse and Contested Meaningsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the process, social representations influence the actions of people (Voelklein & Howarth, 2005) and shape the social practices and institutions that impinge on the everyday experiences of social groups (Elcheroth, Doise, & Reicher, 2011). As such, we need to adopt a critical stance in social representations research (Howarth, 2006a;Voelklein & Howarth, 2005), which entails an analysis of meaning-making and its possible psychological, social and political consequences for different groups in society (Howarth, 2006a;Voelklein & Howarth, 2005;Howarth et al, 2004). In particular, we need to examine how particular representations may impact on people's sense of wellbeing, identity and agency, how they maintain, justify or defend particular versions of reality, how they may encourage or discourage specific social practices, how they support or challenge relations of power and inequality among social groups in a society, and how they come to legitimise or delegitimise the current economic, social and political order (Howarth, 2004(Howarth, , 2006a(Howarth, , 2006b.…”

Section: A Critical Agenda For Social Representations Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Social representations theory highlights the shared, multiple and contested nature of meanings that can be attached to a single social object (Stephens, 2007;Howarth et al, 2004;Moscovici, 1998). Research within this framework has mainly focused on understanding how people construct, defend, contest and transform multiple, dynamic and competing knowledge systems about controversial social objects in everyday encounters, cultural practices and social relations (Howarth, 2006b;Howarth et al, 2004).…”

Section: Multiple Diverse and Contested Meaningsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Drawing on this present conceptualisation, we utilised the theory of social representations as a social constructionist approach to surface the multiplicity and dynamism of meanings (Howarth, Foster, & Dorrer, 2004;Moscovici, 1988Moscovici, , 1998 that people hold about foreign aid in a specific historical, social and political context, such as the province of Sulu in Southern Philippines. Taking on a critical perspective in social representations research (Howarth, 2006a;Voelklein & Howarth, 2005), we also discussed how the meanings attached to this social object may achieve particular psychological, social and political consequences for specific social groups involved in aid practice, as well as how these social representations may provide potential spaces for reflection, critique and transformation in aid practice (Howarth, 2006a;Howarth et al, 2004). First, we provide a brief background into the history of Sulu in Southern Philippines where this research was undertaken.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Social Representations of Foreign Aid: Exploring Meaning-Making in Aid Practice in Sulu, Southern Philippines

Guzman

Montiel

2012

Journal of Pacific Rim Psychology

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C onceptualising foreign aid as a controversial social object, this study utilised Social Representations Theory as a social constructionist framework to understand the meanings that arise from people's social interactions in relation to foreign aid practice in a particular historical, political and social context such as the province of Sulu in Southern Philippines. Key informant interviews and group discussions with representatives of various social groups involved in the practice of foreign aid in Sulu were conducted. Research data were examined using thematic analysis. Results showed two interrelated representational systems about foreign aid in the province. First, foreign aid was understood as a valuable resource for peace and development in Sulu. Second, based on narratives of aid practice in the province, the same social object was also represented as a profiteering enterprise that operates at various levels of the aid structure. Results are discussed in terms of meaning-making in aid practice; the possible psychological, social and political consequences of the social meaning of foreign aid as a profiteering enterprise; and the potential of these social representations for reflection, critique and transformation in the practice of foreign aid.

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Section: A Critical Agenda For Social Representations Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Multiple Diverse and Contested Meaningsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: A Critical Agenda For Social Representations Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Multiple Diverse and Contested Meaningsmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Social Representations of Foreign Aid: Exploring Meaning-Making in Aid Practice in Sulu, Southern Philippines

Guzman

Montiel

2012

Journal of Pacific Rim Psychology

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Police responses to diversity: A social representational study of rural British policing in a changing representational context

Morant

Edwards

2010

Community & Applied Soc Psy

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In the first decade of the 21st century, British policing faced two new challenges in how it responded to social diversity: As well as instituting reforms in response to a highly publicized report describing the British police as 'institutionally racist' (Macpherson, 1999), they faced challenges associated with rapid increases in numbers of immigrants into the UK. Studying social representations at such times of change allows access into processes, themes and value systems that may otherwise remain hidden. This paper uses social representations theory to explore interview accounts provided by regular police officers of interactions with members of minority groups. Empirically, we focus on an area of diversity policing that has received relatively little previous attention: Police work in a rural context that has recently played host to large numbers of migrant workers. Our analysis shows that interviews operate as a site of resistance in which respondents attempt to rework hegemonic representations of the police as prejudiced and to re-present themselves and their work as able to respond appropriately to diversity. Fairness as a defining characteristic of good police practice is a central representational theme that links identity construction processes to police work with minority groups. Recent immigrant groups are represented as both needing and deserving help to assimilate into British culture: Their lack of acculturation and language difficulties provide additional challenges to police work and to how this is judged as 'fair'. We discuss the broader origins and implications of police officers' understandings of fairness and the use of social representations theory to study representational fields within organizational settings.

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Distancing from the worst or facing the inescapable? Social representations and positioning of people in marginalised groups

Savonen

Kataja

Sakki

2022

Community & Applied Soc Psy

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This article draws from a social representations approach (SRA) to present a qualitative inquiry of identity construction in interaction and as part of the social context. We argue that the concept of positioning, inherent to our understanding of SRA, provides a bridge between social representations and identities. Focusing on societally marginalised groups and with illustrative interview samples gathered from two different studies in Finland, this article aims to show how people who use hard drugs position themselves within dominating social representations of ‘addict’, ‘junkie’ and ‘polydrug user’. Two ways of positioning are employed to negotiate with negative social representations: resistance and partial acceptance. ‘Distancing from the worst’ as a way of positioning characterises resistance and illustrates how a positive identity is constructed by describing the ‘ingroup other’ in negative ways, enabling justification of why the responded is not like that. In contrast, ‘facing the inescapable’ as a way of positioning illustrates partial acceptance that is engaged when people feel they cannot control their use or their lives more generally and cannot justify another position than that of a prototypical user. Our article advances the literature on the role of positioning within representational fields as enabling individuals to reject, challenge or accept the dominating social representations, while at the same time serving as a resource to cope with identity threats and maintain a positive identity.

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Exploring the Potential of the Theory of Social Representations in Community-Based Health Research—and Vice Versa?

Abstract: Original citation:Howarth, Caroline and Foster, Juliet and Dorrer, Nike (2004) Exploring the potential of the theory of social representations in community-based health research -and vice versa? Journal of health psychology, 9 (2). pp. 229-245

Cited by 65 publications

References 48 publications

Social Representations of Foreign Aid: Exploring Meaning-Making in Aid Practice in Sulu, Southern Philippines

Social Representations of Foreign Aid: Exploring Meaning-Making in Aid Practice in Sulu, Southern Philippines

Police responses to diversity: A social representational study of rural British policing in a changing representational context

Distancing from the worst or facing the inescapable? Social representations and positioning of people in marginalised groups

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