Glen H. Stamp

Accounting for violence: An analysis of male spousal abuse narratives

Abstract Domestic violence is pervasive in the United States. In addition to the immediate damage caused to victims, abuse is also often transmitted cross‐generationally. Because abusers’ perceptions can reinforce and justify violent behavior, understanding how abusive men perceive their abuse is important. Interviews with 15 abusive males focusing on the accounts of abuse from the males perspective were conducted. The results from the analysis are divided into three areas: (a) attributions about self and other, (b) types of accounts about the abusive situation, and (c) an analysis of an entire narrative from one of the men. The implications of these results for practitioners of treatment for battering males is discussed.

The construct of intent in interpersonal communication

This paper discusses three perspectives of intentionality—the encoder, decoder, and interactional—relevant to issues in interpersonal communication. Each perspective provides a different way of both conceptualizing and researching intentionality. The encoder perspective examines various ways in which intentionality manifests itself within human consciousness while the decoder perspective is primarily concerned with the way in which interactants attribute intentions to one another. Finally, the interactional perspective argues that intent manifests itself as part of a negotiated process between interactants and therefore encompasses both the individual encoder and decoder orientations.

Communication and the experience of dialectical tensions in family life: An examination of abusive and nonabusive families

This study uses a dialectical perspective to examine the communication behavior of 10 couples with a history of abuse and 10 nonabusive couples. Each couple was asked to discuss their daily routines, and the conversations were collectively analyzed through a grounded theory approach. Seven communication‐based differences were identified: vague vs. precise language, opposition vs. collaboration, relational vs. content talk, despair vs. optimism, interfering vs. facilitating interdependence, complaints vs. compliments, and ineffective vs. effective change. In addition, the discovery of these differences provided a vehicle for understanding how the couples manage dialectical tensions. Implications of the results are discussed in terms of a culturally based frame for understanding abusive families.

The appropriation of the parental role through communication during the transition to parenthood

This research investigates the appropriation of the parental role during the transition to parenthood. Ten married couples were interviewed separately and together before and after the birth of a first child. The interviews were analyzed through two different interpretive methodologies: constant comparison of individual interview incidents and analysis of selected couple conversational excerpts. An analysis of the data revealed three relevant dimensions salient to the appropriation of the parental role: role expectations, role enactment, and role negotiation. Within each of the dimensions a particular tension emerged which made expectations, enactment, and negotiation about the role of parent difficult. The dilemmas involve the accuracy/inaccuracy of ones role expectations, others facilitation/inhibition of selfs role enactment, and openness/closedness in negotiating the parental role with ones spouse. The implications of the findings are contrasted with previous work regarding expectations, the relat...

The creation of defensiveness in social interaction

This article develops and examines a conceptual model of defensiveness. Drawn from a review of the literature, defensiveness is hypothesized to be related to: (1) a self‐perceived flaw which the individual refuses to admit, (2) a sensitivity to that flaw, and (3) an attack by another person which (4) focuses on an area or issue that the attacker perceives as a flaw in the other. Results confirm this four‐factor definition of defensiveness and indicate that each factor makes a significant, independent contribution to peoples feelings of defensiveness.

Part 1: The Determination of Web Credibility: A Thematic Analysis of Web User's Judgments

This research explored how web users make credibility judgments of web sites. Three focus groups each examined three web sites and were questioned regarding their judgments of each sites credibility. 629 comments were generated by the three focus groups. Each comment was coded into 12 categories representing the factors impacting web credibility judgments: authority, page layout, site motive, URL, crosscheckability, user motive, content, date, professionalism, site familiarity, process, and personal beliefs. Each factor is discussed in terms of its relevance pertaining to web credibility.

The communicative management of constrained autonomy during the transition to parenthood

The communicative management of changes in autonomy during the transition to parenthood was examined. Ten married couples were interviewed separately and together before and after the birth of a first child. The interviews were analyzed through two different interpretive methodologies: constant comparison of individual interview incidents and analysis of selected couple conversational excerpts. Constrained autonomy is influenced by increases in interdependence, unfulfilled pre‐birth expectations, and perceptual shifts regarding past autonomy. In addition, various interactional patterns manifested by spouses to mediate the autonomy for self and other during the transition to parenthood was examined. Finally, an analysis of how issues of autonomy reflect the problematics of expression and protection within close relationships was offered.

Part 2: The Determination of Web Credibility: A Theoretical Model Derived From Qualitative Data

Previous research uncovered 12 factors impacting Web credibility judgments: authority, page layout, site motive, URL, crosscheckability, user motive, content, date, professionalism, site familiarity, process, and personal beliefs. These factors are examined in terms of general trends as they pertain to the three groups that provided the data: undergraduate students, graduate students, and faculty. A theoretical model is created from the data to describe the process through which web users make web credibility judgments.

The Creation of Defensiveness in Social Interaction II: A Model of Defensive Communication among Romantic Couples

This investigation extends the work of Stamp, Vangelisti, and Daly (1992) and others by explicating the multifaceted process of defensive communication among romantic couples. Qualitative data were derived from self-reports about a distinct episode of defensive communication in individual interviews, as well as direct analysis of couples’ communication in joint interviews. The proposed theoretical model reflects a more comprehensive, holistic, and precise framework that accounts for the triggers, core episode, outcomes, and contexts of defensive communication. The detailed model, which draws attention to interactive and person-centered features of defensive communication, is illustrated through the narrative account of one couple. Eleven data-based postulates are offered to fuel and focus subsequent investigations.

Sexting in the public domain: competing discourses in online news article comments in the USA and the UK involving teenage sexting

Abstract The current study examined the phenomenon of teenage sexting through an analysis of 1030 comments from 15 online stories in the US and the UK. Four competing messages emerged: (1) Innocuity: Is sexting a harmless or harmful activity?; (2) Comparability: Were teenagers in the past the same or different than current teenagers?; (3) Criminality: Is teenage sexting a criminal offense or a legal activity?; and (4) Sexuality: Is teenage sexting sexual exploration or sexual exploitation? The online comments indicated an overall struggle between two different discursive constructions of sexting: A discourse of normal connection and a discourse of aberrant exposure. Implications of these findings are discussed.