Relational dialectics theory

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leslie A. Baxter ◽  
Kristina M. Scharp ◽  
Lindsey J. Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Relational Dialectics ◽  
Relational Dialectics Theory

The United States Military: Sites of Intergroup Discourses

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin Sahlstein Parcell
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Married Couples ◽  
The United States ◽  
United States Military ◽  
Communication Research ◽  
Relational Dialectics ◽  
Relational Dialectics Theory ◽  
Intergroup Communication ◽  
Methodological Approaches ◽  
The Military

The United States military is a frequent point of public conversation since the terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001. Approximately two and a half million service members have deployed in the Global War on Terror, and many have completed multiple deployments with almost 7,000 fatalities across operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Communication research on the military has a long history but since 9/11 has picked up pace with scholars seeking to understand the military’s relationship with the media, its discussion in the public sphere, and the interpersonal/familial experiences of service members and their families. The theoretical and methodological approaches are wide ranging within the discipline, but an intergroup perspective is noticeably absent. Many opportunities exist for answering intergroup communication questions, most notably at the military and civilian divide and, in turn, offering insight about and practical suggestions for communication within and about the military. Given the numerous possibilities for intergroup communication research related to the military, researchers should seize the opportunity to bring new theoretical and methodological approaches to the area. One theory, which has not been used in the intergroup communication scholarship but has great potential for this part of the discipline, is relational dialectics theory. Relational dialectics theory (RDT) is a critical/interpretive theory/method package that explores the substance and form of relational talk with a keen eye for dominant and marginalized discourses. For example, intergroup communication scholars who study the military from an RDT perspective could help illuminate how different groups (e.g., military families and civilian families; same-sex military married couples; and opposite-sex military married couples) understand and construct, for example, their similarities and differences with the goal of improving their interactions. Intergroup communication scholars could use also RDT to study how multiple group-related discourses are present within military groups who have diverse membership (e.g., Family Readiness Groups, FRGs) where members constitute the intersections of several identities (e.g., military wives are simultaneously members of military culture but technically are not military personnel; members are also often simultaneously women, spouses, who, in some cases, are mothers who come from different socioeconomic and ethnic groups, as well as identify as officer or enlisted wives).

scholarly journals Accounts of Family Conflict in Home Hospice Care: The Central Role of Autonomy for Informal Caregiver Resilience

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 190-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacquelyn J. Benson ◽  
Debra Parker Oliver ◽  
George Demiris ◽  
Karla Washington
Keyword(s):  
Family Conflict ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Hospice Care ◽  
Secondary Analysis ◽  
Relational Dialectics ◽  
Relational Dialectics Theory ◽  
Hospice Patients ◽  
Stressful Experience ◽  
Home Hospice Care

End-of-life caregiving is a highly stressful experience often fraught with conflict and tension. However, little is known about the ways family conflict manifests for informal caregivers of home hospice patients (IHCs). Framed by relational dialectics theory, the purpose of this study was to provide nurses and other health care professionals with an empirical understanding of how IHCs experience family conflict and tensions associated with caregiving. A second aim was to determine what strategies IHCs use to manage these family conflicts. Data used in this qualitative secondary analysis were originally collected as part of a randomized clinical trial of an IHC support intervention. Based on thematic analysis of data from 25 IHCs who reported family conflict, a conceptual model of caregiver resilience was developed from the themes and categories that emerged during the coding stage. Autonomy was identified as a central tension. IHCs used several strategies to address family conflict including communication, formal support, and emotional self-care.

Voicing the system: How formerly fostered adults make meaning of the U.S. foster care system

2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (6) ◽  
pp. 1806-1824
Author(s):  
Lindsey J. Thomas ◽  
Kristina M. Scharp
Keyword(s):  
Foster Care ◽  
Relational Dialectics ◽  
Narrative Interviews ◽  
Relational Dialectics Theory ◽  
Foster Care System ◽  
Negative Experiences ◽  
System 1 ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
The U.S ◽  
Care System

The U.S. foster care system aims to provide care to children who are unable to live safely with their families of origin. Yet, fostered youth endure negative experiences before, during, and after foster care. This study investigates tensions between stated goals and experiences of foster care, from the perspective of (formerly) fostered youth. Framed by relational dialectics theory, contrapuntal analysis of 32 narrative interviews revealed two discourses that construct meaning of the foster care system: (1) Discourse of System as (a Necessary) Good aligned with stated goals, constructing the system as helpful and (2) Discourse of System as Harmful (but Necessary) competed with assumptions that foster care is helpful, constructing the system as broken. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

scholarly journals The Discursive Struggles of the Client–Worker Relationship in the Social Services

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanna Nykänen ◽  
Leena Mikkola
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Interpersonal Relationship ◽  
Relational Dialectics ◽  
Relational Dialectics Theory ◽  
Service Workers ◽  
Relational Frames ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Ideal

This study examines how disability service workers identify the discourses of the client-worker relationships. We studied the clientworker relationship from the perspective of the relational dialectics theory with a focus on relational contradictions and the meanings created within discursive struggles. We analyzed the interview data from 22 social workers using contrapuntal analysis. According to the social workers’ perceptions, two discursive struggles exist in client-worker relationships: i) the struggle of integration, consisting of the contradiction of the ideal and the real and the contradiction of closeness and reservedness and ii) the struggle of certainty, consisting of the contradiction of predictability and novelty and the contradiction of openness and closedness. These struggles and contradictions arranges on the societal and relational frames to fully depict the nature of social work. Overall, our analysis shows that the client-worker relationship is both bound to the norms of a professional and a close interpersonal relationship, making its study particularly interesting.

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