My Philisophical Approach...

I relate most to the philosophical approach of post-positivism (or postmodernism). As per Bhattacherjee (2012), postmodernism is the idea that, “one can make reasonable inferences about a phenomenon by combining empirical observations with logical reasoning” (p.18).As a registered Social Worker, I often relate to Berger & Luckmann’s theory on the Social Construction of Reality when working with patients and families; specifically, I identify how peoples lived experiences contribute to their perception of reality and formulation of feelings and emotions and subsequent choices. Postmodernism is similar in this theory, as it has further fragmented into subjectivists, who, “view the world as a subjective construction of our subjective minds rather than as an objective reality,” (Bhattacherjee, 2012, p. 18).I relate to this approach of postmodernism as I also find myself exploring what Bhattacherjee notes as “contingencies” throughout my work with patients, and often frame interactions with patients knowing there is always two sides to the story and there are additional confounding variables for potential causation of the situation or problem being faced. The combination of empirical observations with logical reasoning allows for me to recognize the symptoms of my patients who present with schizophrenia as truth. Not to be confused with what Bhattacherjee (2012) notes as, “blind faith” or “empiricism” (p. 18) I still require seeing something to believe it. For example, patients with schizophrenia present with delusions, even though these are not empirical in terms of evidence, there is a long history of patients describing delusions in addition to supplementary symptoms of schizophrenia which lead us towards a logical conclusion for diagnosis.

Bhattacherjee, A. (2012). Social Science Research: principles, methods, and practices. In Book 3. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1002&context=oa_textbooks

Berger, P. L., & Luckmann, T. (1991). The social construction of reality. Penguin Books.