Corruption as a Social Problem: a Constructionist Approach

Abstract

Introduction. The article provides an overview of the constructionist approach in sociology in the concerning the phenomenon of corruption as a social problem. The relevance of the work is determined by the need to examine the possibilities of sociology in the study of anti-corruption discourse and the construction of corruption in the public consciousness.Methodology and sources. The issue has grown in importance considering the need to study the perception of corruption in society and the processes of its construction. The methodological basis of the work is the analysis of primary sources (works by M. Spektor, J. Kitsuse, J. Best) and research publications, including the retrospective analysis of the theoretical prerequisites for the development of a constructionist approach in the sociology of social problems. This paper gives a detailed overview of the concept of social problems, which is important for the development of theoretical and empirical studies of various social problems from constructionist positions.Results and discussion. The paper presents the features of two directions within the framework of social constructivism: strict and contextual. The author identifies two main areas of corruption research in a constructionist discourse: the analysis of the construction of corruption as a social phenomenon and the analysis of the construction of deviance, which correspond to the phenomenological (strict) and contextual directions. This study defines the main theoretical aspects of the constructivist approach, its ideological prerequisites and traces the development of the main theoretical directions of constructivism within the interactionist approach in sociology. As a result of the analysis, the author highlights the limitations of the constructionist approach, which are significant for choosing a concept and conducting research and pays attention to the possibilities of developing an integrative approach.Conclusion. Social constructivism has heuristic potential in exploring the discourse of corruption as a social problem and the construction of its deviance, which is a promising area of research on the perception of corruption in modern Russian society.