The Cybernetic Tradition

The Cybernetic TraditionThis tradition is of complex systems in which

many interacting elements influence one another.

It focuses on the individual in social interaction with others as the definition of the communicator.

Systems: they are sets of interacting components that together form something more than the sum of the parts. In a complex system, a series of feedback loops connects the part. These feedback loops are called networks.

System TheoryCommunity Development is a very complex

activity - there are so many elements involved that it seems almost impossible to describe development in a clear and organized manner.

Although it is indeed a very complex field, there is a method which can be used to identify many of the components and processes involved in this work.

This way of organizing information has been called System Theory.

System Theory as applied to community development usually involves the following steps:

1. Assessing the community;2. Selecting development goals;3. Planning a strategy to reach those goals;4. Carrying out activities to achieve goals, and;5. Evaluating progress and including the

results of evaluation in subsequent activities.The use of these System Theory concepts can

help workers organize information and see the patterns in complex community processes as they plan and carry out development activities with their communities.

The Sociopsychological and Sociocultural Tradition

Sociopsychological and Sociocultural Traditions deal with individual in interaction with one another.

Sociopsychological tradition foregrounds the individual.

Sociocultural traditions foregrounds the social interaction of the individual and emphasizes it above all.

The Sociopsychological TraditionThis tradition offers the study of an individual as a

social being.These theories of this tradition especially focus on

individual social behavior, personalities and traits and share a common concern for behavior and for the personal traits and the cognitive processes that produce behavior.

Single human mind is the focus and acknowledges that humans have effect on one another and that these effects are discoverable – science of communication.

It focuses on persuasion and attitude change research.

Three Branches of Study:1. The Behavioral-how people behave in

communication situations. Learning theories (reward and punish)

2. The Cognitive-how individuals acquire, store, and process information that lead to behavioral outputs.

3. The Biological-traits are hardwired that lead to behavior output. The study of communication from a biological perspective i.e. communibiology.

Sociocultural TraditionOur understanding of meaning, norms, roles, and

rules are worked out interactively in communication.

Axiom: reality is not an objective set of arrangements outside us but constructed through a process of interaction in groups, communities, and cultures.

Focus is on patterns of interaction between people.How people get together to make meanings.Interested in language, identity construction,

context in which interaction takes place, symbols that a community share, symbolic interactionism, social construction of reality, ethnography.

The Critical Tradition

The Critical TraditionReflect on your privilege and your

advantages…Reflect on other’s privileges and

advantages…What makes these privileges and why…

What symbols and rules and meanings have emerged from communication within our society that give power to some groups and take it away from others?

Religion

Gender

Critical Tradition seeks to understand…The dominant power structures, beliefs,

ideologiesWho can speak and who is muted?Who benefits from structures of dominance

and who does not?To uncover oppressive social conditions and

power arrangements Take action to overcome oppressive forcesHow messages reinforce oppression in

society?

The Rhetorical Tradition

The Rhetorical traditionIn the West, the study journey of

communication began with study of rhetoricRhetoric was understood the art to persuade

by constructive argumentsNow rhetoric includes all the ways humans

use symbols to affect those around them and to construct the worlds in which they live