Transforming Conflict Narratives

Narratives, both personal and social, guide how we live and how we are acculturated into our social worlds. As we make changes in our lives, our personal stories change and, in turn, have the potential to influence the social narratives of which we are a part. Likewise, when there are changes in the culture and social worlds around us, that social narrative changes, thereby affecting our personal narratives. In other words, personal and social narratives are strongly linked and mutually influence each other. We may feel and know these transformations take place and understand the ways in which our lives are affected. However, we often struggle to document these shifts. This article suggests using the practical theory, Coordinated Management of Meaning (CMM) (Pearce, 2007), for narrative analysis to identify and surface personal and social narrative transformations.

Public interaction of health workers during the Covid-19 pandemic

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has limited the space for the community and health workers to provide health services. In this study, we want to see how the role of health workers can minimize health problems that occur in the field. GERMAS (Gerakan Masyarakat Hidup Sehat) which contains to implement the health service programs seeks to provide information through mobile broadcasts on services for preventing Covid-19 activities through vaccination and distributes anthelmintics to children, which is expected to be a forum for the health service to keep interacting with children and societies and also to give some meanings or messages to conveyed the community. This research used a qualitative descriptive method with case study methods and data collection techniques through interviews and observations. The theory used in this research is Coordinated Management of Meaning. For the results, Tanjung Selor Health Center Health Workers and the Tanjung Selor community set a pattern to create meaning in their communication. Health workers and communities create meaning and interpret meaning in their activities through the GERMAS Program.

Wearable Fitness Devices: An Investigation into Co-constructed Meaning of Use

This article investigates practical uses of Wear Fitness Devices (WFDs) and extends literature to include a co-constructed process. Previous research has looked at various aspects of the devices. Yet, this article explores WFD at the crossroads of communication and sport. Researchers conducted 43 in-depth interviews about their WFD usage patterns. The researchers utilize the Coordinated Management of Meaning to understand the themes that emerged. Researchers also discuss the co-construction of understanding that occurred during interviews that revealed the concept of mindless usage. Researchers also demonstrate the relevance of Uses and Gratifications in uncovering five key themes: “features and benefits,” “health and fitness,” “motivation,” “communication,” and “life changes.” The interview process reveals a shift in understanding the meaning of WFD use and reveals themes that demonstrate practical usage. Suggestions for future research on WFD are also provided.

A narrative approach for a client with irritable bowel syndrome

This article aimed to illustrate a new narrative approach that transformed a client’s story of suffering by differentiating the meaning construction of a particular speech act of other people. The new narrative approach has fundamental roots in coordinated management of meaning theory. The authors reformed this as “modified coordinated management of meaning” (MCMM), and called the refined model the refined MCMM (RMCMM). The client was a 21-year-old woman who was diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) in high school. Her story of suffering concerned odors related to her IBS-diarrhea symptoms, which resulted in her experiencing difficulties in college life. The social worker intervened the client’s meaning construction of the locutionary act of another person’s speech act “something really stinks.” The client acquired the skills for generating new meaning constructions and speech act selections to transform her story of suffering. The RMCMM was an efficacious narrative approach that allowed the client with IBS to transform her story of suffering over a short period.

MAKNA TANDA NOVELA ANTOINE DE SAINT-EXUPÉRY

ABSTRACTThe work of fiction has many signs and meanings are different for each reader. Signs could reflect what might happen in real life, such as the about communication. Similarly as novella titled The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry which have a lot of interpretations. As a result of the extensive interpretation, a lot of readers do not understand what the thing to be conveyed by the author. Therefore, this study looked for signs that confuse the reader and interpret it using semiotics by Charles Sanders Peirce. The study also outlines the signs associated with intrapersonal and interpersonal communication in real life, especially studied of Symbolic Interaction Theory and Coordinated Management of Meaning. ABSTRAKSKarya fiksi memiliki banyak tanda dan makna yang berbeda untuk setiap pembaca. Tanda dapat mencerminkan apa yang mungkin terjadi dalam kehidupan nyata, seperti tentang komunikasi. Demikian seperti novella berjudul The Little Prince karya Antoine de Saint-Exupéry yang memiliki banyak interpretasi. Sebagai hasil dari interpretasi yang luas, banyak pembaca tidak mengerti apa hal yang ingin disampaikan oleh penulis. Oleh karena itu, penelitian ini mencari tanda-tanda yang membingungkan pembaca dan menafsirkannya menggunakan semiotika oleh Charles Sanders Peirce. Studi ini juga menguraikan tanda-tanda yang terkait dengan komunikasi intrapersonal dan interpersonal dalam kehidupan nyata, terutama yang dipelajari tentang Teori Interaksi Simbolik dan Manajemen makna terkoordinasi.

Ndibeer and Ned Ride Again

This article tells a dialogical story and describes a process of mutual learning and embodiment over the course of a long therapeutic relationship. The article maps the development of relationship, between my inner voices, my supervisors and those of my client, where stories of self and other are articulated, elaborated and externalised using the metaphor of a "bundle of treasures". A self-reflexive process of personal and professional mapping, using the hierarchical model of the Coordinated Management of Meaning, is described. In a recursive and isomorphic process, supervisory and therapeutic conversations further elaborate these stories, and through joint action, enable the creation of a liminal, reflexive space, a Fifth Province position, a cauldron of creativity where practice-based theory can develop. This process will be illustrated as it arises in the story of relationship and the process of therapy, so this narrative invites the reader to become an active participant in a never-ending process where theory becomes a live metaphor in the quest for being human

Case Report: Are You One of Us and Can We Trust You?: Taking a Communication Perspective in Participatory Research

This article focuses on the necessity to build relationships with people across cultures, while doing participatory action research (PAR). There are many assumptions attached to the term “participation” and it is not only worth exploring how these assumptions are formed and how they manifest during participatory action research projects, but is necessary to build trusting relationships. Taking a communication perspective through the lens of Coordinated Management of Meaning (CMM), provides the framework to see which voices are heard and privileged, and how researchers with more formal experience blend in partnership with those possessing local knowledge and practices. These many influences shape the dynamics of the relationships, create the episodes of which these experiences are a part, and impact the efficacy of the work. These layers of complexity need to be considered and addressed. CMM Models and concepts aid us in becoming aware of the moral or “logical” forces that are attached to the contexts we prioritize and was applicable to the case study we did in Medellín, Colombia, which was key to developing self-awareness. These contextual influences are culturally bound and in order to have equitable participatory processes across cultures, becoming more aware of the origin of these tendencies is critical. In addition, the more self-aware all the researchers become, the more it leads to developing better partnerships in these PAR processes.

Dealing With Unintended Consequences

Well-intentioned interventions can sometimes have negative or, if you will, undesired effects. Because the overall approach of this book is systemic in nature, the authors devoted some time to discuss “unintended consequences” and to suggest some ways to anticipate them and in cases circumvent them. This chapter addresses some of the unintended consequences that happen when intervening in a dynamic social environment. It provides examples of how unexpected outcomes and side effects that overshadow positive contributions take place as people and organizations design and execute social interventions. Though not all unintended consequences are negative; here they share a case where the unintended consequences were positive and desirable, which allows them to argue that unintended consequences can be both positive and negative. In this chapter, they draw heavily on dynamical systems theory as understood by Coleman, and on the coordinated management of meaning theory, as suggested by Pearce.

Developing Self-Awareness

Understanding the relationship between the particular and the general is pivotal to understand and bring about social change. In this chapter, the authors focus on the development of self-awareness and using “self as instrument of change.” They have evidenced that as people become aware of their self-transformation, their impetus to transform their most immediate community increases. Also, when the self-transformation of a community member is evidenced by the rest, that person is conceived as possessing a moral authority that legitimizes his or her role as a leader. In fact, when working in communities transitioning out of conflict, we need to be the best version of who we are so that we can relate with authenticity to develop trusting relationships. The authors draw from the concept of mystery included in the coordinated management of meaning (CMM) theory, as well as from Carol Dweck's discussion on the difference between growth mindset and fixed mindset.

Communicating Crisis to Youth: The role of caregiver crisis communication in youth sensemaking and recovery

A qualitative study was conducted of the response to student deaths by the administrators of two rural high schools. The events are looked at in the dual context of incident management and communication processes, using Coordinated Management of Meaning (CMM) theory. Interviews were conducted with administrators and with members of a student support team that responded to these and similar events. The study finds that negotiation of meaning that takes place between students, and between students and caregivers, is key in students’ processing of the event that they are experiencing. It can also equip them to be more resilient to traumatic events in the future.