Communication Environment
Working together, residents, geo-ethnic media, and community-based organizations have the capacity to change the life conditions of a residential area. However, this process does not take place in a vacuum. In forging those critical ties that produce a neighborhood storytelling network, these storytellers face numerous challenges in their communication environment or what we call the communication action context (CAC).
The CAC is the space in which residents confront the problems of everyday life and engage in problem-defining and problem-solving activities. The boundaries of the CAC are the boundaries of the residential area as defined by shared conventions (e.g., major cross streets, the incorporated area, real estate sections, geographic labels).
Important features of the CAC include:
- The physical makeup of the area, such as the configuration of streets and freeways, the location of rivers, railroad tracks.
- The relative presence of incipient communication places—that is places that bring people together and encourage communication (e.g., parks, quality grocery stores and and restaurants, churches, cultural artifacts, movie theaters, or libraries).
- Psychological features or the degree to which people feel free to engage each other (e.g., perceived safety of the streets).
- Socio-cultural characteristics such as the degree of class, ethnic, and cultural similarity, or tendencies toward individualism or collectivism.
- Economic features, such as the time and resources available to engage in everyday conversation and community activities (e.g., working too many hours or jobs and long commutes).
- Finally, technological features such as access to communication technologies or transportation system features (e.g., quality of bus system).
Depending on the degree to which the CAC encourages or hinders communication, it is said to vary along a continuum, from open to closed.
Research Team
Publications
Published Papers
Kim, Y. C., & Ball-Rokeach, S. J. (2006). Neighborhood storytelling resources and civic engagement: A multilevel approach. Human Communication Research, 32(4), 411-439.
Papers Presented at Professional Meetings
Ball-Rokeach, S. J. (2006). International Communication Association. Theme session chair and organizer: The context of everyday life in new and old immigrant communities. Dresden.
Ball-Rokeach, S.J. (2004). School of Social Work Community Immersion Program, University of Southern California. Neighborhood Stories, Storytelling Neighborhood. Los Angeles.
Chavez, C. (2008). Catholic Parishes as Agents of Integration and Isolation. Paper presented at the International Communication Association Conference, Montreal.
Gonzalez, C.& Moreno, E. (2008). Working together for a shared community: Community-Based Organizations as Sites of Intergroup Interaction. Paper presented at the International Communication Association Conference, Montreal.
Katz, V. (2008). An Active Education: classroom participation as an influence on intergroup relations between parents. Paper presented at the International Communication Association Conference, Montreal.
Lapsansky, C. (2008). Community on the Walls: How Public Murals Can Affect Intergroup Relations in a Shared Community. Paper presented at the International Communication Association Conference, Montreal.
Lin, W. Y., Song, H. & Mercado, A. (2004). Storytelling into Community Building: The role of geo-ethnic media in building communities. Paper presented at the annual conference of the International Communication Association, New Orleans.
Matei, S., Ball-Rokeach, & Qiu, J. (2001). Mental maps as communication research tools and their policy implications. The International Communication Association Conference, Washington DC.
Matsaganis, M. (2006). Neighborhood Effects and the Invisible Motor of Community Change. International Communication Association. Dresden.
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