Communication and Disenfranchisement

This volume and its companion case studies book deal with some of the people, groups, and classes who are living a disenfranchised existence in the United States. Whether through birth, life events, or unfortunate circumstances, they are denied full privileges, rights, and power within the existing societal structure. Centered around societal health problems as they relate to socioeconomic status, family, abuse, and health concerns, these volumes examine salient issues from several theoretical frameworks, including feminist theory and the social construction of reality. Communication and Disenfranchisement provides theory-based essays on topics such as the homeless, adult survivors of sexual assault, battered women, persons with disabilities, impoverished women, the indigent living in the inner city, persons with HIV/AIDS, the terminally ill, and the elderly. Case Studies in Communication and Disenfranchisement provides parallel case studies, applying the issues and concepts discussed in the essays. Used together, these books provide theoretically-based applications of social health issues within a communication framework. Traditionally, health communication research has emphasized the communication-physical health relationship. Inadvertently, this primary focus has restricted what information has been included under the domain of health communication. These books expand that domain by examining how the communication-disenfranchisement relationship is accomplished, managed, and overcome, and by recognizing the significance of the pragmatic and theoretic implications of this inquiry.

Eileen Berlin Ray

Contents: Introduction. Part I: Conceptual Orientations to Disenfranchisement.C. Bullis, B.W. Bach, Feminism and the Disenfranchised: Listening Beyond the "Other." H.B. Mokros, S. Deetz, What Counts as Real? A Constitutive View of Communication and the Disenfranchised in the Context of Health. G.B. Ray, Identities in Crisis: Individualism, Disenfranchisement, and the Self-Help Culture. L.S. Eastland, The Reconstruction of Identity: Strategies of the Oregon Citizens Alliance. Part II: Issues Related to Socioeconomic Status.K. Miller, Gimme Shelter: The Communication of America's Homeless. B.F. Sharf, J. Kahler, Victims of the Franchise: A Culturally Sensitive Model of Teaching Patient-Doctor Communication in the Inner City. R.E. Zambrana, A Research Agenda on Issues Affecting Poor and Minority Women: A Model for Understanding Their Health Needs. A.A. Marshall, J.K. McKeon, Reaching the "Unreachables": Educating and Motivating Women Living in Poverty. Part III: Issues Related to Family.P. Geist, J.L. Gray, F. Avalos-C'deBaca, G. Hill, Silent Tragedy/Social Stigma: Coping With the Pain of Infertility. D.S. Ballard-Reisch, Coping with Alienation, Fear and Isolation: The Disenfranchisement of Adolescents With Cancer and Their Families. J.E. Rudd, Divorce Mediation: One Step Forward or Two Steps Back? J.F. Nussbaum, M. Bergstrom, L. Sparks, The Institutionalized Elderly: Interactive Implications of Long-Term Care. Part IV: Issues Related to Abuse.A. Eckman, M. Mastronardi, Feminist Approaches to Sexual Violence: A Discursive Analysis. E.B. Ray, Challenging the Stigmatizing Messages: The Emerging Voices of Adult Survivors of Incest. J.T. West, Communication and Abused Women: Empowering Their Voices and Exposing the Ideological Constraints. R.P. Clair, Discourse and Disenfranchisement: Targets, Victims, and Survivors of Sexual Harassment. Part V: Issues Related to Health Concerns.F.C. Corey, Gay Men and Their Physicians: Discourse and Disenfranchisement. S. Metts, H. Manns, Coping With HIV Infection and AIDS: The Social and Personal Challenges. R.J.W. Cline, N.J. McKenzie, HIV/AIDS, Women, and the Threads of Discrimination: A Tapestry of Disenfranchisement. T.L. Thompson, Allowing Dignity: Communication With the Dying. R.W. Thomas, D.R. Seibold, Communicating with Alcoholics: A Strategic Influence Approach to Personal Intervention. G.M. Johnson, T.L. Albrecht, Supportive Structures for Persons With Disability: Smoothing or Smothering the Way? D.O. Braithwaite, "Persons First": Expanding Communicative Choices by Persons With Disabilities.