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Description
Since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and subsequent creation of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), airport security has become an increasingly invasive, cumbersome, and expensive process. Fraught with tension and discomfort, "airport security" is a dirty phrase in the popular imagination, synonymous with long lines, unimpressive employees, and indignity.

Since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and subsequent creation of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), airport security has become an increasingly invasive, cumbersome, and expensive process. Fraught with tension and discomfort, "airport security" is a dirty phrase in the popular imagination, synonymous with long lines, unimpressive employees, and indignity. In fact, the TSA and its employees have featured as topic and punch line of news and popular culture stories. This image complicates the TSA's mission to ensure the nation's air travel safety and the ways that its officers interact with passengers. Every day, nearly two million people fly domestically in the United States. Each passenger must interact with many of the approximately 50,000 agents in airports. How employees and travelers make sense of interactions in airport security contexts can have significant implications for individual wellbeing, personal and professional relationships, and organizational policies and practices. Furthermore, the meaning making of travelers and employees is complexly connected to broad social discourses and issues of identity. In this study, I focus on the communication implications of identity and emotional performances in airport security in light of discourses at macro, meso, and micro levels. Using discourse tracing (LeGreco & Tracy, 2009), I construct the historical and discursive landscape of airport security, and via participant observation and various types of interviews, demonstrate how officers and passengers develop and perform identity, and the resulting interactional consequences. My analysis suggests that passengers and Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) perform three main types of identities in airport security contexts--what I call Stereotypical, Ideal, and Mindful--which reflect different types and levels of discourse. Identity performances are intricately related to emotional processes and occur dynamically, in relation to the identity and emotional performances of others. Theoretical implications direct attention to the ways that identity and emotional performances structure interactions, cause burdensome emotion management, and present organizational actors with tension, contradiction, and paradox to manage. Practical implications suggest consideration of passenger and TSO emotional wellbeing, policy framing, passenger agency, and preferred identities. Methodologically, this dissertation offers insight into discourse tracing and challenges of embodied "undercover" research in public spaces.
ContributorsRedden, Shawna Malvini (Author) / Tracy, Sarah J. (Thesis advisor) / Corley, Kevin (Committee member) / Alberts, Janet (Committee member) / Trethewey, Angela (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
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Description
In an effort to understand and improve interactions between homeless young adults and the nonprofit organizations that serve them, I engaged in a long-term, qualitative, participatory action project. My project involved input from homeless young adults, nonprofit organizations, volunteers/staff, and communication scholarship. While taking a community-engaged, participatory, and qualitative approach,

In an effort to understand and improve interactions between homeless young adults and the nonprofit organizations that serve them, I engaged in a long-term, qualitative, participatory action project. My project involved input from homeless young adults, nonprofit organizations, volunteers/staff, and communication scholarship. While taking a community-engaged, participatory, and qualitative approach, I focused on the interactions between youth and the organizations. Particularly, I drew on homeless young adult experiences to inform services and illuminate compassion within the context of the nonprofit organizations. In the end, this project extends the individual model of compassion to include presence, identifies potential ruptures in the process of compassion, and models compassionate dynamics in organizations. It also articulates a method I call pragmatic fieldwork, a qualitative and pragmatic approach to participatory action research. Each of these outcomes speaks to varied community interests, from theoretically nuancing scholarly models of compassion to informing policy in the interest of more effectively and compassionately serving homeless youth.
ContributorsHuffman, Timothy (Author) / Trethewey, Angela (Thesis advisor) / Tracy, Sarah J. (Committee member) / Hagar, Mark (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
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Description
Municipal courtrooms are brimming with a variety of positive and negative emotions from defendants who are primarily encountering the criminal justice system for the first time. Municipal court judges and bailiffs must work together and find ways to communicate important information about courtroom processes to up to 70-120 defendants a

Municipal courtrooms are brimming with a variety of positive and negative emotions from defendants who are primarily encountering the criminal justice system for the first time. Municipal court judges and bailiffs must work together and find ways to communicate important information about courtroom processes to up to 70-120 defendants a day. This dissertation investigates how municipal court judges and bailiffs from two municipal courthouses respond to three organizational challenges associated with emotion--defendant confusion about courtroom processes, handling high caseloads while treating defendants as customers of the court, and managing the serious and tedious emotional moods of the courtroom environment. Using qualitative methods of observation and informal and formal interviews, this dissertation analyzes how emotion cycles between judges and bailiffs help give sense to and break sense of defendants while simultaneously helping them navigate the challenges of their work. Findings detail the nature of work in municipal court--explaining the challenges associated with emotion that judges and bailiffs face on a daily basis. The data also describes the emotional roles that judges and bailiffs employ in the courtroom. The judges' emotional roles include tension relievers, order enforcers, and care takers. Bailiffs' emotional roles comprise rule enforcers, toxin handlers, and do gooders. The heart of the analysis explores how judges and bailiffs give sense to defendants when unexpected situations manifest in the courtroom and break sense of defendants who hold incorrect or less favored beliefs about courtroom procedures. The emotional displays and responses of judges, bailiffs, primary defendants (defendants before the judge), and third party defendants (those watching in the audience) enable sensegiving and sensebreaking to occur. The emotion cycles allow courtroom staff to impact the sensemaking process of defendants in a fast and efficient manner. Theoretical implications include extensions of emotion cycle research through a consideration of the displays and responses of primary agents, intermediate agents, and primary recipients of emotional displays. Practical implications describe how specific training practices and space for employee discussion could enhance the workplace wellness of judges and bailiffs.
ContributorsScarduzio, Jennifer A (Author) / Tracy, Sarah J. (Thesis advisor) / Corley, Kevin G. (Committee member) / Waldron, Vincent (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
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Description
This narrative study sought to understand the socialization experiences of Hispanic entrepreneurs. While several studies have explored socialization and work-life wellness, few have focused specifically on Hispanics or entrepreneurs. A total of 25 participants were formally interviewed for this study including 16 entrepreneurs and 9 of their family members. Data

This narrative study sought to understand the socialization experiences of Hispanic entrepreneurs. While several studies have explored socialization and work-life wellness, few have focused specifically on Hispanics or entrepreneurs. A total of 25 participants were formally interviewed for this study including 16 entrepreneurs and 9 of their family members. Data were also collected through participant observation in which 210 participants were observed at several venues. Participants were recruited from three Southwestern states including: Arizona, Colorado, and Texas. The study employed qualitative interpretive methods to collect and analyze data. Research questions focused on the socialization experiences Hispanic entrepreneurs' reported, how they narrated the ways in which these experiences influenced their work-lives as entrepreneurs, and what they and their family members reported about the relationship between family and work. Results indicate Hispanic entrepreneurs were exposed to work at very young ages, acquired a variety of skills (e.g. sales and leadership) that transferred to their careers as entrepreneurs, and developed coping skills which helped them deal with business and personal hardships. Moreover, participants noted the ways in which faith, positive self-talk, and emotional labor played a role in their work lives. Finally, this research extends current constructions of care and what constitutes work and quality family time.
ContributorsMontoya, Yvonne Jay (Author) / de la Garza, Sarah Amira (Thesis advisor) / Tracy, Sarah J. (Committee member) / Margolis, Eric (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
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Description
More than simply a source of income, work has become a central source of identity (Beder, 2000; Ciulla, 2000; Clair, McConnell, Bell, Hackbarth & Mathes, 2008; Muirhead, 2004). motivating scholars to engage in a plethora of studies examining the impact of work as a way of defining ourselves, ranging from

More than simply a source of income, work has become a central source of identity (Beder, 2000; Ciulla, 2000; Clair, McConnell, Bell, Hackbarth & Mathes, 2008; Muirhead, 2004). motivating scholars to engage in a plethora of studies examining the impact of work as a way of defining ourselves, ranging from identification with the organization (Scott, Corman, & Cheney, 1998) to the influence of work on non-work lives (Kirby, Wieland & McBride, 2006). And yet, in such volatile political and economic times, individual's identities as worker are threatened, spurring questions about how to decenter the meaning of work in our lives (Rushkoff, 2011). Despite young people's roles as organizational members, few communication scholars have considered the organizational experiences of youth as a productive area for research and theory (for exception see Myers & Sadaghiani, 2010). I adopt a discursive approach to unpack the multiple ways that discourses, at interpersonal, organizational and social levels, impact and influence youths' identity construction process (Ashcraft & Mumby, 2004; Fairhust & Putnam, 2004). I empirically demonstrate how discourses of work operate simultaneously at multiple levels, interacting and overlapping to position youth as workers. Analysis is based on interviews with youth, ages 12 to 21, participating in a popular national nonprofit organization that serves over four million youth each year. In addition to 49 one-on-one formal interviews, I observed 50 hours of a worker preparation program, which serves as an important context for priming participants and situating our conversations about work. Practically, this project illustrates the influence of organizations to mediate the relationship between discourse and identity. Methodologically, I further clarify discursive analysis as a method by explicitly articulating a concrete framework by which to identify micro-, meso-, and macro-levels of discourse. I also present a qualitative instrument for interviewing youth. Theoretically, this research offers an innovative and necessary expansion to the scope of organizational research by highlighting youth as current and future workers, pointing to the ways they are already engaged in work-life negotiation practices and considering how their micro-discursive practices serve to decenter the organization and make work and family meaningful.
ContributorsWay, Amy Kathleen (Author) / Trethewey, Angela (Thesis advisor) / Tracy, Sarah J. (Committee member) / Karin, Marcy (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
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Description
The global spread of body techniques, such as Yoga, meditation, Tai Chi, Qigong, and non-competitive martial arts have been diffusing into socio-cultural spaces and institutions outside of their native contexts. Despite the ubiquity of cultural borrowing and mixing, the much needed conceptualization and theorization of cultural appropriation is nearly absent

The global spread of body techniques, such as Yoga, meditation, Tai Chi, Qigong, and non-competitive martial arts have been diffusing into socio-cultural spaces and institutions outside of their native contexts. Despite the ubiquity of cultural borrowing and mixing, the much needed conceptualization and theorization of cultural appropriation is nearly absent within intercultural communication studies. This ethnographic study examines one community of martial artists who practice Aikido, a martial art originating from Japan, in the United States to explore how members negotiate and appropriate its cultural elements in their practice, how the practice binds the dojo community, and how the practice cultivates an embodied dialogic practice. The study takes an ethnographic approach that uses qualitative methods (e.g. participant-observation and interviews). It is also an experiment with methodology comprised of two moment: the first taking an informative and a communicative view of ethnography, and the second, a performative approach. The ethnographic account transposes the Aikido technique - 1) attack, 2) evasion, 3) centralization, and 4) neutralization - onto the chapters as a way to co-produce the world textually rather than extract representations from it. At the dojo Shining Energy, corporeal, material and semiotic components coexist to produce both defined and latent relationalities that open fields and spaces not predetermined by meaning, law, and authority. The transmission of skill takes places through the relational openings in the rich structured environment during practice that each member helps to generate regardless of their skill level. Aikido practice cultivates a latent form of coping strategy where practitioners learn to flourish in midst of hostile situations while maintaining their own presence and identity. Practitioners persist in the practice of Aikido to submit themselves to the processes to engage their sinews, senses and neural paths to keep up with the particulars of situations so that perception, control, and action to run together like the "flash of lightening" to open up inert reality into a process. The practice of Aikido points to a space and time beyond the movement forms to intimate and reveal new ways of not only moving in the world, but also moving the world!
ContributorsKong, Jie-Young (Author) / Broome, Benjamin J. (Thesis advisor) / Tracy, Sarah J. (Committee member) / Ballestero Salaverry, Andrea (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
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This critical qualitative research study explores the discursive processes and patterns by which humor is gendered in hair salons and barbershops, in support of or resistance to hegemony, through an in-depth analysis and feminist critique of the humorous exchanges of hair stylists and barbers. This study extends prior feminist organizational

This critical qualitative research study explores the discursive processes and patterns by which humor is gendered in hair salons and barbershops, in support of or resistance to hegemony, through an in-depth analysis and feminist critique of the humorous exchanges of hair stylists and barbers. This study extends prior feminist organizational research from Ashcraft and Pacanowsky (1996) regarding the participation of marginalized populations (i.e., women) in hegemonic processes, and argues that, despite changing cultural/demographic organizational trends, marginalized (as well as dominant) populations are still participating in hegemonic processes 20 years later. A focus on gendered humor via participant narratives reveals how various styles of gendered humor function to reinforce gender stereotypes, marginalize/exclude the "other" (i.e., women), and thus privilege hegemonic patterns of workplace discourse. This study contributes to existing feminist organizational scholarship by offering the unique juxtaposition of humor and gender from a diverse and understudied population, hair industry professionals.
ContributorsFranks, Tara M (Author) / Tracy, Sarah J. (Thesis advisor) / Miller, Katherine (Thesis advisor) / Romero, Mary (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
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This research examines the communicative processes of resilience in the organizational context of public education. The research utilizes one-on-one interviews to elicit descriptions of resilience and well-being and collect stories of success and overcoming challenges. The study purpose is two-fold: (1) to understand the ways in which organizational members construct

This research examines the communicative processes of resilience in the organizational context of public education. The research utilizes one-on-one interviews to elicit descriptions of resilience and well-being and collect stories of success and overcoming challenges. The study purpose is two-fold: (1) to understand the ways in which organizational members construct and enact resilience individually and collectively through their talk and stories, and (2) to extend the communication theory of resilience through an empirical investigation of resilience in an organizational context. An iterative, thematic analysis of interview data revealed that resilience, as lived, is a socially constructed, collective process. Findings show resilience in this context is (1) socially constructed through past and present experiences informing the ways organizational members perceive challenges and opportunities for action, (2) contextual in that most challenges are perceived positively as a way to contribute to individual and organizational goals and as part of a “bigger purpose” to students, (3) interactional in that it is constructed and enacted collaboratively through social processes, (4) reciprocal in that working through challenges leads to experience, confidence, and building a repertoire of opportunities for action that become a shared experience between educators and is further reciprocated with students, and (5) is enacted through positive and growth mindsets. This study offers theoretical contributions by extending the communication theory of resilience and illuminating intersections to sensemaking, flow, and implicit person theory. I offer five primary practical applications, discuss limitations, and present future directions highlighting community development and strengths-based approaches.
ContributorsKamrath, Jessica K (Author) / Tracy, Sarah J. (Thesis advisor) / Adame, Elissa A. (Committee member) / Cloutier, Scott (Committee member) / Waldron, Vincent R. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
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Description
In this study, I used critical, qualitative methods to explore how the material and symbolic dynamics of milk banking complicate expectations of organizing and (in)effective lactation. Guided by theories of alternative organizing, in/voluntary membership, the structuration of d/Discourse, and corporeal commodification, I conducted document analysis, fieldwork, and interviews with hospital

In this study, I used critical, qualitative methods to explore how the material and symbolic dynamics of milk banking complicate expectations of organizing and (in)effective lactation. Guided by theories of alternative organizing, in/voluntary membership, the structuration of d/Discourse, and corporeal commodification, I conducted document analysis, fieldwork, and interviews with hospital and milk bank staff and maternal donors and recipients. Results trace the (her)story and protocols of the milk banking industry and examine the circumstances of donation and receipt; the d/Discourses of filth, suspicion, and inadequacy that circulate the lactating, maternal body; and the presence or resistance of commodification within each organization.

Milk banking occurs when mothers provide excess breastmilk to parents with low supply or compromising medical conditions. “Milk banking” is used as an umbrella term for different ways of organizing donor milk; organizing evolved from wet-nursing to a continuum of in/formal markets. Formal markets include for-profit and non-profit milk banks that pasteurize and/or sterilize breastmilk for Neonatal Intensive Care Units. Informal markets involve self-organized exchanges online that are driven by monetary ads or donation. Both formal and informal markets elicit questions regarding flows of capital, labor, reproductive choice, and exploitation. However, current research resides in medicine, law, and popular press, so we know little about how milk banking happens in real time or how participation affects maternal identity.

My analysis makes four contributions to organizational communication theory: (1) alternative organizing punctuates the construction of and conflicts between in/formal markets and shows why such theories should be represented as cyclical, rather than linear; (2) membership in milk banking is unintentional and distinct from in/voluntary membership; (3) the obscured organization is a necessary alternative to Scott’s (2013) hidden organizations; and (4) d/Discourses of “safety” are used to discipline and indict, not just represent operational differences. Social-rhetorical implications reveal how milk banking operates as an affective economy (Ahmed, 2004) and mark where privileges and inequalities are present in the absence of data; practical implications suggest consideration of policy changes. Methodologically, this study also offers insight into crystallization (Ellingson, 2009) and participant witnessing (Tracy, forthcoming) and challenges the hegemonic underpinnings of fieldwork.
ContributorsJones, Sarah E. (Author) / Tracy, Sarah J. (Thesis advisor) / Brouwer, Daniel C (Committee member) / Ellingson, Laura L. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
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Description
The death of a parent or sibling for youth under age 18 is life-altering and necessitates support and opportunities for expressing grief. Scholarship from psychology and medical disciplines often equates youthful grieving as a disease to be cured rather than a natural process to be experienced. Stage-based grief models explain

The death of a parent or sibling for youth under age 18 is life-altering and necessitates support and opportunities for expressing grief. Scholarship from psychology and medical disciplines often equates youthful grieving as a disease to be cured rather than a natural process to be experienced. Stage-based grief models explain adults coping with loss of loved ones by working through a series of discrete phases mostly tied to deficit-based emotions such as anger or depression. Progressive grief models have been emerging throughout the past 20 years in response to stage-based models; however these models tend to highlight deficit-based emotions and are applied to youth as afterthoughts. Thus, there is a noticeable absence of research exploring positive or strength-based emotions in adolescent grief from a communicative, youth-centered perspective. A communicative approach to exploring adolescent grief narratives offers a practical yet pliable theoretical lens for interpreting meaning from mourning. Using qualitative methods, I conducted full participant research as a volunteer with Comfort Zone Camp, a national organization sponsoring weekend-long grief camps for youth. I engaged in participant observation while volunteering to explore the communicative processes of 26 grieving adolescents and also conducted post-camp follow-up interviews with youth, parents, and adult volunteers. Analysis was based on 192 field work hours, 11 interview hours, artifacts, and camp documents. Findings of the dissertation indicate grieving adolescents use communicative processes, including sharing emotional pieces, co-authoring loss, and naming hurt, to perform a range of emotions. Along with deficit-based emotions, grieving adolescents perform strength-based emotions, including confidence, forgiveness, happiness, deservingness, hope, gratitude, resilience, love, and compassion. Evidence also supports that grieving campers performed compassion individually and in groups. Theoretically, this dissertation expands on existing grief theory by demonstrating that adolescents communicate strength-based emotions in grief, captured visually in the Concert of Emotions model. This study expands on compassion theory by exploring implications of collective compassion expressions. Specifically, this dissertation offers the co-performing sub-process to account for collective compassion extending past compassion models that focus on individual expressions. Practically, this research yields new understanding into how grieving adolescents constitute themselves as compassionate, helpful contributors as they face loss.
ContributorsClark, Louise Elizabeth (Author) / Tracy, Sarah J. (Thesis advisor) / Corey, Frederick (Committee member) / Miller, Katherine I (Committee member) / Swadener, Beth Blue (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015