We argue that to accept research findings as situated or contextual and as open to alternative interpretation and revision marks a psychology that is contextually aware. A focus on context removes some of the dangers of research that fosters individual blame for social problems. We additionally argue that deconstructions of sexuality do not have to be value free; the acceptance of multiple perspectives does not free researchers from making value decisions (Bohan, 1993). Rather, as researchers, it is important to be aware of and state our values and how they may influence us. In the case of Dora, a woman’s claim of incest and the response of her family is not to be reduced to the individual pathology of the woman, but examined from multiple perspectives.
Methodologically, incorporating social constructionism into psychology would necessitate stating the values and goals of the research process at the outset for others to examine. The researcher would be obligated to take a critical stance toward the research, evaluating how assumptions and values may influence the research at every stage. The use of the scientific method can be most objective, ironically, when “the subjectivity of the researcher and the researched is recognized and incorporated into research activity and consequent theorizing” (Prince & Hartnett, 1993, p. 222). Acknowledgment of the social, historical, and cultural context also would be required. Research findings can be compared to make generalizations, but care is required not to overgeneralize, or universalize, results. All work would be subject to a critical assessment based on the historical, cultural, and social factors that influenced the research. In short, social constructionism could lead to a more self-critical, reflexive psychology.
Social constructionists hold that all science is political because it is subjective and privileges some ideas, hypotheses, and methods of analysis
over others. The feminist researcher, informed by social constructionism, can go beyond recognizing that science is politics to analyze the social forces operating and then make changes in these power relations (Mor — awski, 1988). Both postmodern feminism and postmodernism in general assert that traditional knowledge and the ways of acquiring it are fundamentally flawed and should be replaced. From this perspective, the modernist assumption that knowledge is grounded in absolute truth having a universal, pan-historical, and constant nature waiting for discovery is simply wrong. Postmodern feminism argues that dismantling the rhetoric of traditional theory and method will produce a public illumination of the social and political values that drive the research. By focusing on the many ways that sexuality is socially constructed, an awareness of alternate realities and methods of construction becomes possible. Illuminating multiple perspectives while considering social, cultural, and historical contexts will transform knowledge.