Analyzing Strategic Responses to Discriminatory Acts: A Co-Cultural Communicative Investigation

Abstract

This qualitative content analysis explores the multiple ways in which individuals respond to acts of discrimination based on race, sex, age, sexual orientation, and disability. This study examines 258 stories of discrimination using a co-cultural theoretical frame of analysis to empirically assess those interactive structures that perpetuate the communicative system of how co-cultural discriminatory acts become reproduced in everyday life. Specifically, the focus is on identifying the co-cultural communication orientations and practices that are enacted as responses to discrimination and to discern if these strategies vary based on co-cultural group membership. Following a description of thematic insights, directions for future research in terms of co-cultural theory, memorable messages, microaggressions, and responses to discrimination are discussed.

Keywords:

• Co-Cultural Theory
• Discrimination
• Memorable Messages
• Microaggressions

Notes

1. A copy of the complete survey instrument is available from the first author.

2. Participant stories ranged from those that were one to two sentences long to those that filled two pages; the average length of stories was one paragraph.

3. The fact that the prompt did not explicitly instruct participants to provide descriptions of how they responded to the act of discrimination explains why just under 37% of stories could be used.

4. Within the collected stories, 16 of 258 individuals described enacting more than one communication orientation; 69 of 258 described enacting more than one co-cultural practice. As such, the content analysis counted each orientation and practice separately.

5. Many scholars believe that co-cultural theory can be applied to anyone. However, Orbe (1998) believes that members of the dominant group may become a temporary member of a co-cultural group and adopt a co-cultural language. Therefore, the White male in this context has temporary co-cultural group membership because his perception of having a significant stake in the outcome of the interaction in which the other individual exercised control over him could be impacted by his insider-outsider representation (i.e., KKK membership vs. non-KKK membership). Thus, the instance resulted in the use of co-cultural language.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sakile K. Camara

Sakile K. Camara is Assistant Professor at the Department of Communication Studies, California State University, USA

Mark P. Orbe

Mark P. Orbe is Professor of Communication and Diversity at the School of Communication, University of Western Michigan, USA, where he holds a joint appointment in the Gender and Women's Studies Program