Discursive Action Model Research Articles

The Interplay of Infidelity, Sexuality, and Religiosity in the Discourse of Mixed-Orientation Marriages: A Discursive Psychological Analysis.

This research examines the complex interplay of religiosity, sexuality, and infidelity. We adopted a case study approach in this research, and discourse was made central to the analysis. There were two participants; both identified as homosexuals. One participant, Fahrin, is married while the other, Muzz, is divorced at the time of the interview. The participants were subjected to an in-depth, semi-structured interview to gauge their experiences, perceptions, opinions, beliefs, and thoughts on their sexuality, Islamic faith as well as relationship with their spouses. The data were then transcribed and analyzed using the Discursive Action Model (DAM) and Discursive Psychology (DP) frameworks. From the analysis, two overarching themes were identified. They are (1) the allocation of blame and accountability and (2) the participants’ attachment to their Islamic identity. The discussion then revolves around the societal role that pressures gay men to marry women and contextualizes the position of Islam on Homosexuality.

Faking and Conspiring about COVID-19: A Discursive Approach

In the more general climate of post-truth - a social trend reflecting a disregard for reliable ways of knowing what is true, mostly acted through massive use of misinformation and rhetoric calling for emotions - an alarming “infodemic” accompanied the COVID-19 pandemic, affecting healthy attitudes and behaviors and further lessening trust in science, institutions, and traditional media. Its two main representative items, fake and conspiracy news, have been widely analyzed in psycho-social research, even if scholars mostly acknowledged the cognitive and social dimensions of those items and devoted less attention to their discursive construction. In addition, these works did not directly compare and differentiate fake and conspiracy pathways. In order to address this gap and promote a wider understanding of these matters, a qualitative investigation of an Italian sample of 112 fake and conspiracy news articles, mostly spread during the first two COVID-19 “waves” (from March 2020 to January 2021) was realized. Our sample gathered news specifically coming from social media posts, representing easy and fast channels for viral content diffusion. We analyzed the selected texts by means of Diatextual Analysis and Discursive Action Model models, aimed to (a) offer “in depth” fine-grained analysis of the psycholinguistic and argumentative features of fake and conspiracy news, and (b) differentiate them in line with the classical Aristotle’s rhetoric stances of logos, ethos, and pathos, thus bridging traditional and current lines of thinking. Even though they may share common roots set in the post-truth climate, fake and conspiracy news engage in different rhetoric patterns since they present different enjeu and construct specific epistemic pathways. Implications for health- and digital-literacy are debated.

Religious Power Struggle and Cembengan Tradition in Madukismo Sugar Factory Yogyakarta

As an entity famous for its mystical synthesis, Yogyakarta Palace can harmonize between mysticism and religious and social expressions. This is represented in, one of them, Madukismo Sugar Factory in Yogyakarta, a sugarcane processing factory owned by Yogyakarta Palace. In its processing, there is one of local wisdom that reflects the existence of this mystical synthesis, namely Cembengan tradition. From it, arises a power struggle between orthodoxy and heterodoxy, bearing in mind that this factory is a public company which naturally comes from various religious groups. The main problems: how Cembengan tradition in Madukismo Sugar Factory in Yogyakarta is and how the struggle for religious power in Cembengan tradition is. This paper aims to find out Cembengan tradition and the struggle for the religious power that exists in the tradition. This study uses discursive action model as its approach. The research data were analyzed qualitatively using interview and literature study techniques. It was found that in Cembengan tradition, there is a tradition with a variety of activities, which is essentially asking for safety and blessing. The uniqueness is in the series of activities, there are istigotsah and pilgrimage to the tomb of the ancestor together, which is in series with the procession of Labuhan Laut, sugarcane bride and groom parade, and puppet show. This certainly gives rise to a power struggle between orthodoxy and heterodoxy, bearing in mind that Yogyakarta itself is the orthodox Islamic base as well as strong heterodoxy bases. However, Cembengan tradition continues because there are various things that are proven to occur and determine the quality of works and production results from Madukismo Sugar Factory itself. We can conclude that no matter how strong the struggle is, the mystical synthesis is still ongoing.

Discursive strategies employed by homosexual Malaysian Muslim men in talking about homosexuality in Islam

This research looks into how homosexual Muslim men in Malaysia convey their experiences regarding their sexual and romantic lifestyle in relation to their Islamic faith. For this research, four respondents who identify themselves as homosexual and Muslim were subjected to in-depth, semi-structured interview to gauge their experiences, thoughts and beliefs in regard to their sexual and religious experiences. Discursive Psychology (DP), more specifically, the Discursive Action Model (DAM) as proposed by Edwards and Potter is used as analytical tool to explicate the data of this research. The analysis reveals several recurring themes which appear throughout the participants’ discourses, which are (1) Disrupted Construction of Cohesive Identity, (2) Indomitable Nature of Same-sex Desire and (3) Downplaying the Severity of Same-sex Relation in Islam. The findings of this research provide novel insights into the way the homosexual Muslim’s phenomenon is perceived and thus, complicates the notion of homosexuality in Islam.

Life-threatening complications in childbirth: a discursive analysis of fathers’ accounts

ABSTRACTObjectives: To explore the discursive construction and social actions achieved by accounts given by men following a birth in which the mother developed life-threatening complications.Background: Existing qualitative research employing interpretative thematic analysis of men’s accounts of births in which the mother developed life-threatening complications highlights men’s expressions of distress and marginalisation. This paper extends this, adopting different epistemological and analytic approaches to those accounts.Methods: Audio recordings and transcripts of semi-structured interviews collected by Hinton et al. were re-analysed using an approach informed by narrative analysis, discursive psychology and the discursive action model. Participants were four white British men whose partners experienced a maternal ‘near-miss’ event.Results: This analysis illustrates how men in this study draw on cultural narratives of ‘normal’ birth to construct experiences. Narrative constructions highlight separation of health professionals from laymen. These men use a discourse of self-reliance within families to construct their path to recovery.Conclusion: The strength of available narratives of birth and limited accessibility of alternative ones may impact how men tell their experience. Men in this study discursively attend to issues of power, agency and male identity, re-establishing entitlement to speak about their experience, but construct emotional support as unavailable to them.

Performance on the Frontline of Tourist Decision Making

There have been recent calls to reconceptualize tourist decision-making models. This study presents evidence for a model that depicts on-site tourist decision making as a socially embedded (discursive) performance in which frontline tourism staff members play key roles. Such performances aim to achieve tourism experiences that serve the multiple interests of participants in the decision-making process. Interviews with frontline staff in Canterbury, New Zealand, revealed a “performance” in which a complex set of discursive skills, interpersonal strategies, and service attributes were displayed. Together these generate—via conversation—socially embedded environments of trust that, in turn, lead to outcomes optimized for decision-making effort, decision justifiability, and the avoidance of negative emotions. Findings are discussed within the framework of the “discursive action model,” which highlights a process that has appropriate tourist experience, deemed authentic, as its goal.

A Discursive Psychological Analysis of Islamic Sermons on Homosexuality

This paper aims to provide insights into the delivery of Islamic sermons in regards to homosexuality. The spoken discourse which constitutes data for this study were generated from the sermons delivered by two Malaysian preachers. These sermons were retrieved from the video sharing website, Youtube. The two preachers were chosen because of their popularity and huge following. The spoken discourse was analyzed using the Discursive Psychology (DP) approach, more specifically, the Discursive Action Model (DAM) proposed by Edwards and Potter (1992). The analysis shows that these preachers expertly employed DP strategies in maneuvering their sermons so that Islamic ruling on the sinfulness of homosexuality is unflinchingly delivered. At the same time the rest of the Muslim communities are urged to treat LGBT individuals humanely. This paper thus challenges the notions that Islam is inherently homophobic and that Muslims who believe that homosexuality is a sin would necessarily discriminate against homosexuals.

The ‘blame game’: Discourse analysis of family members’ and therapist negotiation of problem definition in systemic family therapy

The present article aims at shedding light to the complex ways in which blame and responsibility are negotiated, when family members and the therapist engage in problem definition talk in systemic family therapy. The article draws from a qualitative research study which was designed to explore problem talk in systemic family therapy by means of discourse analysis methodology. Nine videotaped initial systemic family therapy sessions in which four different therapists and six different families with a variety of reported difficulties were sampled. They were transcribed verbatim and subjected to micro-analysis by means of the Discursive Action Model. In the present article, we present the detailed analysis of one of the identified patterns of blame allocation, in which family members are shown to construct the identified patient’s deviation from normality as the cause of their difficulties while the therapist is shown to attempt to exonerate blame from the identified patient by means of positive connotation. We discuss the implications of our analysis for theory development and clinical practice in the field, in the context of a growing body of related research. We also hint to the potential of discourse analysis methodology for family therapy research.

Blame, responsibility and systemic neutrality: a discourse analysis methodology to the study of family therapy problem talk

In this article we present discourse analysis of initial systemic family therapy sessions, focusing on family members' responses to therapists' attempts to introduce a systemically neutral, relational perspective on their troubles, by means of circular questioning and the final team message. The article draws from a qualitative study of family therapy problem talk with a sample of nine videotaped first and second sessions with six families and four therapists. The sessions were transcribed verbatim and subjected to discourse analysis following the discursive action model. Our analysis indicates that family members may decode the therapists' discursive moves as attributing blame or responsibility to them and engage in further blaming of the identified patient. We conclude by raising the implications of the present research study for the latent attributional work in clinical practice. We also stress the potential of discourse analysis methodology for studying blaming actions and for enhancing reflexivity about our models and practices.Practitioner points Family members may decode therapists' attempts for introducing a systemically neutral perspective as allocating blame to them for the presenting problem(s). Practitioners should be reflexive about their potentially blaming discursive contributions in therapeutic dialogue. Discourse analysis methodology can enhance clinicians' reflexivity about their contributions in therapeutic dialogue.

Blame and accountability in family therapy: Making sense of therapeutic spaces discursively.

Within the context of family therapy a discursive social constructionist approach was utilized. This illustrated how parents drew upon culturally understood notions of mental health in order to situate the family’s issues within the identified child. Three core analytic issues were identified. First, it was found that parents attributed blame with the identified child. Second, they made direct appeals to the truthfulness of their accounts. Third, the therapist worked to reframe the difficulties as family problems. Thus, through an application of the discursive action model of Edwards and Potter (1992) the social actions and performative nature of family interactions were bound up with parental accountability and therapists moved to refocus the family in a way that maintained therapeutic alliances by offering praise, empathizing, and talking about “feelings.” In this way, a social constructionist, discursive account provided a mechanism for exploring how families interact within the therapeutic space and how child mental health is better understood as a negotiated, rather than fixed concept.

Studying circular questioning "in situ": discourse analysis of a first systemic family therapy session.

The present article focuses on the study of circular questioning "in situ," that is, in the context of the discursive arena of an actual first systemic family therapy session. Two typical circular questions are selected, and discourse analysis heavily drawing from the discursive action model is deployed with the aim to highlight their function in the context of therapist and family members' problem talk. The analysis demonstrates the gradual building of two respective patterns, which both exhibit signs of shifts toward the instillment of a systemic epistemology in relation to problem talk: a shift from homogeneity to heterogeneity in family members' voices, which legitimizes the existence of different viewpoints within a system, and a shift from the construction of an accusation toward its deconstruction, which challenges the linear perception of causality underlying the accusation, thus introducing a more circular perspective. Implications are discussed in relation to contemporary, constructionist systemic family therapy practice, and reference is made to the methodological "promises" and challenges of the deployment of discourse analysis for the scrutiny of systemic family therapy therapeutic techniques and tools under a discursively informed light.

CEO letters as legitimacy builders: coupling text to numbers

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to describe and interpret the CEO letter in the annual reports of three multinational Swedish companies. This study focuses on the CEOs' comments on accounting principles and rules, on company decisions and actions, and on external events. Examination of CEO letters reveals how CEOs make themselves accountable to readers and establish their own and their companies' legitimacy.Design/methodology/approachA strategic design was used to select the three companies;.the three criteria used in making the selection were company nationality, age, and stock market listing. A fourth criterion was that the company had been a nominee in the Stockholm Stock Exchange “Best Annual Report” contest. Based on a social constructivist approach, with inspiration from the field of discourse psychology, a discursive action model (DAM) is applied in this research.FindingsThe analysis shows that the CEO letters at two of the three companies do not emphasize numbers and text. In the third company's CEO letters, the numbers are an important component and are balanced with text. It was found that one explanation of the CEO letter format is the CEO's wish to persuade readers of the company's legitimacy, excellence, and future survival. The CEO letter is intended to strengthen readers' confidence in the company.Originality/valueThis paper provides insight into how CEOs use CEO letters in annual reports to craft a corporate image for readers.

Challenging behaviour: Analysing teacher language in a school-based consultation within the discursive action model

Educational psychologists (EPs) have long wrestled with the initiative-sapping effects of ‘within-child’ attributions and explanations of those who may otherwise be in a position to bring about positive changes for young people. The growing interest in consultative approaches inevitably focuses research attention towards the conversations that take place between those involved in such consultations. In this paper we examine the discursive practices and resources that a teacher and learning mentor utilise when describing a pupil’s behaviour in a consultation with an EP. The full transcript of this consultation session was analysed with reference to discursive psychology and the discursive action model, with a particular focus on some of the discursive devices that were used. These devices enable speakers to portray their accounts as objective and factual and unmotivated by self-interest. We provide examples of these devices to illustrate the ways in which challenging behaviour may be located and maintained as a ‘within-child’ formulation.

A Parsimonious Theory Can Account for Complex Phenomena

A strong case was made by Edwards and Potter (1993) that discourse analysis is superior to alternative approaches to language analysis. In the present article we apply four models of language analysis to Edwards and Potter's paper, including our Linguistic Category Model (LCM) and their Discursive Action Model (DAM), with converging results. It is concluded that a complex phenomenon like real language in social context does not necessarily need models and methods approaching the same level of complexity. A more parsimonious model can be even better suited to the task.

Language and causation: A discursive action model of description and attribution.

Everyday explanations of human actions have been studied as event perception, with language part of method, used by experimenters for describing events and obtaining causal judgments from Ss. Recently, language has acquired theoretical importance as the medium of causal thinking. Two developments are the linguistic category model of Au (1986), Brown and Fish (1983), and Fiedler and Semin (1988) and the conversational model of Turnbull and Slugoski (1988) and Hilton (1990). Three areas of weaknesses are identified: the relation between linguistic and psychological analysis, the nature of ordinary discourse, and the action orientation of event descriptions. A Discursive Action Model is proposed for investigating everyday causal attribution. Although a cognitive psychology of discursive attribution is considered feasible, this must follow a reconceptualization of language as social action

Language and causation: A discursive action model of description and attribution.

Language and causation: A discursive action model of description and attribution.