S OCIAL C ONSTRUCTION OF R EALITY Examples of how what we make up can have very real outcomes.

P LACEBO

A placebo is a drug that is given in medical studies to determine the effect of new medicine.

Placebo work best in pain and subjective outcomes

In 2004 two Danish scientists analyzed 42 trials, extending the data pool to more than eleven thousand patients. For trials with patient- reported outcomes, a placebo effect has been detected in 30 percent of the cases.

In antidepressants, a very large amount of benefit is due to the placebo effect. In a total of more than nineteen thousand patients where antidepressant drugs have been tested against placebo, it came out that the antidepressants have reduced the depressive symptoms by 40 percent and the placebo have reduced them by 30 percent.

C RIME AND THE E LDERLY

N EW Y ORK C ITY -1976

3 daily papers and 5 local television stations reported a surge of violence against elderly people. This crime wave lasted about 7 weeks- especially during November and December of 1976

One consequence of this crime wave was the new type of crime Crime against the elderly Which includes typical victims, offenders and circumstances.

S OCIALLY C ONSTRUCTED S TATUSES Victims- elderly white individuals who had not left the city because of lack of financial resources Offenders- black or hispanic youth with juvenile histories

Public outrage about these crimes was immediate and The Mayor of New York City criticized the justice system and criminal courts (the mayor just happened to be preparing for a re-election campaign) The New York City Police Department gave its Senior Citizens Robbery Unit funding to have an expanded plain- clothes operation New York State legislators introduced bills to make juvenile records available to a judge at the time of sentencing ( to deny year olds juvenile status if they victimized an elderly person AND mandate prison sentences)

T HE R EALITY There was NO official report from the NYPD that there was a crime wave or trend There was NO significant increase in crime for elderly In 1976 there was an increase for ALL age groups when looking at crime victimization Police statistics showed that yes there was a continuing increase in victimization of the elderly but no more than any other group The homicide rate actually goes AGAINST the media presentation of a crime wave.

S OCIAL C ONSTRUCTION OF R EALITY If we think that something is real- it is real in its consequences.