Interpersonal and Small Group Communication Commons^™

Changes In Student Definitions Of De-Escalation In Professional Peace Officer Education, Pat Nelson

Criminal Justice Department Publications

Since the release of the 21st century policing report in the United States, the techniques of de-escalation have received a lot of attention and focus in political systems, policy changes, and the media. This research surveyed professional peace officer education university students on their definition of de-escalation and the techniques associated with de-escalation before specific communications coursework was completed and then after the coursework was completed. This research has found that clearly defining de-escalation and emphasizing the broad range of techniques available enhances the students' understanding and application of proper de-escalation.

This presentation won the Best Paper award for the …

How To Organize Conferences: Systems Approach, Olga Kosheleva, Vladik Kreinovich

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

Research conferences are often organized by volunteers, namely, by people who are specialists in research but not in conference organization. As a result, some conferences are very successful, while some are not very successful. It is therefore desirable to provide newbie conference organizers with helpful recommendations. In this article, based on the experience of a successful recent conference, we provide the corresponding basic recommendations -- as well as their general-system explanation.

Event Planning As A Means Of Applying Transferable Skills: The Planning Of The 2019 Communication Studies Banquet, Kylie E. Clark

Communication Studies

Though an annual event, The Communication Studies Banquet has had low attendance in the past and was seen as formal and expensive. This year’s event was revamped in order to make the banquet more fun, accessible, and affordable. The planning and enhancement of this event required several transferable skills which can be applied not only to event planning, but also to many other careers. These skills include organization, communication, negotiation, creativity, financial management, and resourcefulness. This paper examines the utility of transferable skills, including how they are acquired and why they are valuable, and explains how these skills were applied …

Discursive Leadership: Exploring The "Black Box" Challenge In Transcultural Leadership Studies, Christopher Patrick Brown

Dissertations

The increasingly globalized U.S. workforce includes significant numbers of adult immigrants integrating into the North American professional sphere. As such, it is important to have concrete ways to study and interpret different cultures’ thinking about teamwork, and their models of enacting shared leadership and communication in a multicultural context. Since 2006, hundreds of millions in federal grant funding has been invested in university-based language and culture programs focused on training government personnel and heritage populations in the languages and cultures of the Middle East and Central and Southeast Asia. Little is known about the performative strengths and challenges of the …

Collaboration In Social Hobby Groups: Transferring Qualities Of Teamwork From The Social Sphere To The Professional Sphere, Emily M. Mccormick

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Workplace collaboration has been the subject of much research and writing. Social collaboration can help inform our understanding of how people prefer to work together and should be studied for its aspects that could be transferred to the professional sphere. This research examines how members in social hobby groups collaborate with each other and what aspects of that collaboration can be applied to the workplace. I observed and surveyed five local hobby groups to better understand how the members worked together and what made this type of socializing appealing to members. One of the primary aspects of this social collaboration …

Queering Performative Face Theory: Analyzing Coming Out Narratives, Dominic A. Pecoraro

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

This thesis focuses on performativity of sexual minorities in interpersonal interactions. Specific attention is placed on concepts of privacy, performance, and face negotiation. This study not only focuses on how individuals who are open about their sexuality manage face, but also how individuals manage face while going through the process of coming out. Concepts of normative gender roles, heteronormativity, and homophobia are analyzed when considering privacy and face negotiation. Communication Privacy Management (CPM) Theory and Performative Face Theory are employed as theoretical foundations for this thesis work. I discuss how queer individuals may negotiate their face differently due to specific …

The Impact Organizational Factors Have On Role Ambiguity Amongst School Social Workers, Melissa Kichura

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore what organizational factors increase or decrease role ambiguity amongst school social workers. This study attempted to provide practical information for schools on the influence of specific organizational factors on role ambiguity so that they can provide a supportive work environment for school social workers and students. A cross-sectional survey design was used to provide a snapshot of the current organizational factors impacting the ambiguity of school social work roles from a sample of 73 members of the School Social Work Association of America. Some findings were not congruent with the literature. The …

Privatio Dialogus: Toward A Phenomenology Of Aloneness For The Philosophy Of Communication, Timothy Michaels

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The intent of this dissertation is to utilize the phenomenological method to elucidate the experience of aloneness and its relationship with human communication. Aloneness, for the purposes of this research, is understood as the broad experience of feeling alone. This dissertation first seeks to understand some essential principles of previous interdisciplinary literature on this topic before establishing a typology of experiences of aloneness, including isolation, escapism, and solitude. I present a phenomenology of each of these types of aloneness through a representative philosopher for each one, with Hannah Arendt, Emmanuel Levinas, and Henry David Thoreau, respectively. Finally, I conclude that …

Multifaith Families And Their Narratives Within Society, Josh Friedberg

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this project is to nudge the conversation about interfaith families in a direction that examines the family post–interfaith dialogue. The term multifaith better represents this new aim because it encompasses all interactions and does not limit the family to the constraints of the moniker interfaith. I apply Walter Fisher’s concepts of coherence and fidelity, in coordination with family communication literature, to structure this project and to study the various aspects of a multifaith family and narrative. I also use three typologies of multifaith family (Passive/Passive, Passive/Active, and Active/Active) to better understand the variations of this family. The …

Black Body Memory: A Philosophy Of The Talk, Autumn Redcross

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project offers the term Black body memory to point toward the threatened existential disposition of Black people in society today. Moreover, Black body memory points to the narrative paradigm of a shared experience. While popular conceptions theorize race as a social construction, the lived reality of Black people is frequently imbued by racialization and racism. Black body memory emerges from the intersection of the Black body articulated by Franz Fanon, Charles Johnson, and George Yancy, among others, and body memory, as described by Edward Casey and Thomas Fuchs. Black body memory is a culturally-laden and sedimented lived reality. The …

If We're "Over," Is It Really Over?: How Past Romantic Relationships Impact Subsequent Relationships, Cassie Elizabeth Shimek

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This project focused on understanding how past romantic relationships influence subsequent romantic relationships. Participants (n = 147) completed a survey containing repeated measures focusing on a previous romantic relationship and a current romantic relationship. Through the application of Relational Turbulence Model (RTM; Solomon & Knobloch, 2004) as a framework, the evaluation of relational uncertainty and interference in previous romantic relationships and subsequent romantic relationships was determined. The usage of RTM highlights how past experiences of relational uncertainty and interference influence the following romantic relationship and partner. Additionally, an evaluation of how relational uncertainty influences different types of talk in …

The Religious Classroom: Analyzing The Cross-Application Of Instructional Communication Pedagogy To Youth Ministries, Lakelyn Taylor

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Instructional communication literature suggests that, to achieve optimal student learning outcomes, an instructor must completely engage in all aspects of experiential learning. It follows, then, that youth ministers should also employ experiential learning in their youth ministries to achieve their learning outcome goals among the youth they teach. This research project examined three research questions: 1.) What pedagogical strategies do youth ministers use during large group class sessions? 2.) In what ways do youth ministers employ instructional communication best practices within their pedagogical strategies? 3.) What strategies do former students remember their youth minister using the most? The analysis revealed …

Supervisor-Subordinate Conflict Negotiation: Examining The Core Concerns In Light Of Communication Accommodation And Gender Roles, Piyawan Charoensap-Kelly

Dissertations

This quasi-experimental study examined a supervisor-subordinate negotiation of an emotion-laden conflict from the lens of the core concerns framework, communication accommodation theory, and gender roles research. Results empirically support CCF that, by accommodating or attending to the employees’ core concerns, managers can stimulate employees’ positive emotion and integrative intention. However, under- and overaccommodating the core concerns can lead to distributive intention. Additionally, the employees’ perception of manager goodwill can strengthen or attenuate the positive effect of core concerns accommodativeness on outcome variables especially for male managers. Thus, moderate accommodation is recommended for male managers. For female managers, the results show …

Pastoral Leadership In A Cross-Cultural, Multicultural, Conflict-Driven Congregation: A Filipino Case Study, Ed Volfe

Doctor of Ministry Projects and Theses

Pastoral Leadership in a Cross-Cultural, Multicultural, Conflict-Driven Congregation: A Filipino Case Study

Christ Redeemer was a Cross-Cultural, Multicultural church where the majority of the members were Filipinos. The church experienced way too many conflicts that distracted everyone in the congregation from the real calling to “make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.”[1] The ethos of Christ Redeemer seemed to be driven by conflict, regardless of whether the leadership provided came from a Filipino or a non-Filipino pastor. The congregation fed conflict upon conflict, creating a cycle of tension with little engagement in critical issues in the …

Instructional Communication In Secondary Education, Sarah Downey

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Though several early instructional communication studies (e.g., McCroskey & Richmond, 1983) focused on a wide range of participants across what Fredriech and Nussbaum (2005) call the “developmental continuum,”(p. 580) the vast majority of work has centered on the college classroom. Thus, little is known about how instruction occurs in primary and secondary education contexts. Therefore, instructional communication scholars should examine the instructional communication issues faced by primary and secondary school instructors. The purpose of the proposed study was to provide a research agenda for instructional communication scholars regarding communication in the secondary (K-12) educational context. This research was an exploratory …

The Art Of Questioning: Using Powerful Questions And Appreciative Inquiry Conversations To Understand Values And Needs, Annie Bélanger, Preethi Rao

Presentations

Have you desired a strengths-based holistic approach to create connections, change and innovation? Conversations connect thoughts and feelings, result in new ideas, develop new perspectives and understandings, and have an increased potential for action. Developing conversations where all are heard and hear others with respect and empathy is crucial to healthy organizations. By moving away from problem-fixing/reacting and learning to use powerful questions strategically, leaders and peers can effectively energize, co-create, and innovate.

Towards High-Empathy Hiring: Implementing Leading Practices For More Inclusive Recruitment, Sarah Beaubien, Annie Bélanger, Scott Ayotte

Presentations

Have you ever wondered if the interview process could be a kinder, more accessible experience, meant to develop connections? Would you like to critically examine practices in the hiring process to ensure empathy to applicants going through the process? In taking a closer look at our own practices, collaborating with the Office of Inclusion and Equity, we have made changes, which have led to a more positive experience for candidates and our organizational outcomes.

Cooking Lessons: Oral Recipe Sharing In The Southern Kitchen, Alana Claxton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study analyzes oral recipe sharing practices as they emerge in Southern cooking. Researcher and participants were immersed in cooking recipes together in a qualitative research method that combined interactive interviewing with sensory ethnography. Findings revealed a category of oral recipe sharing practices that is missing from the literature: cooking lessons. This study identified cooking lessons as a distinct recipe sharing practice and worked to further operationalize and concretize such practices in hopes of spurring further research.

A Study Of Communication And Hispanic Cultural Values Within The Family, Gabrielle Lafond

Senior Honors Projects

Every human being has a unique communication style, which has often been carefully and significantly molded by family members during their upbringing. Cultural variations in those communication styles are common because different ethnic groups possess their own standards or values for what constitutes effective and appropriate verbal and nonverbal communication. For my project, I focused on communication patterns and cultural values practiced by young adults within Hispanic families, specifically regarding the concepts of familism, respect, and conflict. Familism is a value often associated with Hispanic families and it revolves around the notion that family is paramount in a person’s life. …

Disclosing Romantic Relationship Conflicts With A Third Party: A Test Of The Disclosure Decision-Making Model, Michelle Marie Jimenez

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

This study utilized Greene’s (2009) health disclosure decision-making model (DD-MM) to better understand the process of romantic relationship conflict (RRC) disclosures to a confidant outside the relationship. In doing so, I investigated the changes in relational quality between the discloser and their romantic partner/confidant, while also proposing that the DD-MM would be valid for use in RRC disclosures. Results indicated that while relational quality does not change significantly between the discloser and their romantic partner/confidant after an RRC disclosure, the depth of disclosure is significantly correlated with greater relational quality with the confidant. The relational quality an individual had with …