Randall G. Rogan

Crisis negotiations: A Preliminary investigation of facework in naturalistic conflict discourse

Abstract This article views crisis negotiations from an interaction goal perspective, with facework constituting a significant and heretofore unexplored dimension of interaction. We present a three‐dimensional model of facework used in coding perpetrator and negotiator discourse for face behaviors within three authentic negotiation interactions. Results indicate that Restore Others Face and Restore Selfs Face were the two predominant facework behaviors. While negotiators were the primary users of Restore Others Face acts, perpetrators used mostly Restore Selfs Face behaviors. No Attack Others Face acts were observed. However, of five Attack Selfs Face behaviors enacted, four occurred in a negotiation which ended in the suicide of the perpetrator. Lag sequential analysis revealed a general cycle of perpetrator use of Restore Selfs Face and negotiator use of Restore Others Face. Implications of these findings for future research and for training crisis negotiators are discussed.

Faculty Use and Non-Use of Electronic Mail: Attitudes, Expectations and Profiles

This paper raises four research questions about the relationships between expectations about the faculty use of e-mail and the level of e-mail usage among faculty. The study uses a survey design to test expectations about technology on several attitude measures. We report that positive expectations about the functionality of technology are related to higher incidence of e-mail use. Furthermore, the results suggest higher existing levels of computer use in general, and that positive anticipation of future use is also related to higher levels of e-mail use in particular. These findings are then used to develop profiles of users and non-users. The results indicate that younger faculty with greater exposure to computers tend to be more frequent users of e-mail than older faculty whose customary communication styles do not include the use of e-mail. Finally it is suggested that expectations about the “promise of technology” are related to the actual use of technology.

An Exploratory Study of Message Affect Behavior: A Comparison between African Americans and Euro-Americans.

This article presents the results of an investigation wherein Rogan and Hammers language intensity/message affect coding metric was used for evaluating variability in the emotional language of Euro-Americans and African Americans responding to a freeresponse scenario. Overall, the findings from this study indicate that there are significant differences in the level of affect present in messages communicated by African Americans compared with messages communicated by Euro-Americans. Specifically, the EuroAmerican respondents employed significantly greater language intensity and significantly more positive message valence compared with more negatively valenced and neutral language intensity used by African American respondents. These findings provide additional insight into traditional, qualitatively derived assumptions regarding the affective communication patterns of Euro-Americans and African Africans. The results also serve to bolster the applicability and validity of Rogan and Hammers coding metric.

Linguistic Style Matching in Crisis Negotiations: A Comparative Analysis of Suicidal and Surrender Outcomes

Recent data from the Federal Bureau of Investigations HOBAS database indicates that suicides, attempted suicides, and barricaded stand-offs account for nearly two thirds of all crisis negotiations to which United States law enforcement responds. Gaining insight into the communication dynamics of suicide incidents is, therefore, a critical concern to law enforcement. Negotiators are commonly coached to engage suicidal persons by exploring the subjects feelings, the reality of suicide, the precipitating causes of the suicidal desire, and expressing his/her own personal concern for seeking the subjects safety. Negotiators operationalize these strategies by striving to match their language to that of the suicidal subject. This investigation sought to explore the level of linguistic style matching between crisis negotiation subjects and negotiators as manifested in incidents that conclude in surrender and suicide. Six incidents were divided into 6 time stages, and the language of negotiators and subjects was analyzed across 18 linguistic dimensions of the computational linguistic analysis program Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count. Findings indicate notable differences in the valence and strength of the correlations for specific linguistic features among negotiators and subjects that vary by outcome. Additionally, composite linguistic style matching in the suicidal incidents was nearly twice as great in the surrender incidents.

Latino and Indochinese interpretive frames in negotiating conflict with law enforcement: a focus group analysis

Abstract Incidents involving conflict and violence are routinely encountered by law enforcement. The intercultural dynamics of these types of threatening situations have not been systematically investigated. More specifically, little research has focused on the cultural dimensions of conflict negotiation in the United States between Indochinese and Latinos in interaction with law enforcement. This paper examines conflict negotiation strategies in terms of “interpretive frames” of Indochinese and Latino respondents within the United States in their interactions with police. The paper begins with a review of research that has investigated Indochinese and Latino conflict communication. Next, the focus group methodology used in the study for obtaining insights into interpretive frames of conflict negotiation of the Indochinese and Latino participants is discussed. A total of 18 Indochinese participants (organized into three focus groups) and 21 Latino respondents (comprising three focus groups) participated in the study. In addition, one Indochinese and one Latino “verification” group (consisting of some of the original focus group members) were formed to determine the degree to which the identified interpretive frames made sense as a robust explanation of conflict negotiation from the cultural perspectives of the respondents themselves. Results from the study reveal both a rich set of “emic” or culture specific frames of conflict negotiation within each of the cultural groups as well as useful “etic” or culture general interpretive frames for comparing Indochinese and Latino conflict negotiation strategies with law enforcement.

Language intensity: Testing a content‐based metric

This investigation assessed two versions (original, elaborated) of a content‐based metric for coding and calculating composite verbal intensity values for naturalistic discourse. Intensity scores were calculated for 50 sample talking turns using two versions of the scheme and compared with subjects’ intensity ratings of the 50 turns in two conditions. In the content condition subjects (n = 65) read each message and rated its intensity along a five‐point scale, while in the audio condition subjects (n = 65) listened to the recorded messages and indicated their perceived intensity using the same five‐point scale. Results indicate that composite intensity scores calculated via a revised (elaborated) version of the metric were not significantly different from subjects’ intensity ratings in the two conditions and were characterized by a significant positive correlation with those ratings. However, the composite intensity scores produced via the original version of the metric were significantly different from t...

The Impact of Power on Communicative Persistence, Strategic Diversity and Bargaining Outcomes

An experiment was designed to assess the impact of power on communicative persistence and compliance‐gaining strategy diversity. Participants played the roles of buyer and seller in a negotiation game. Results indicated that power exerted a substantial impact on the messages persons used during the negotiations. Furthermore, message behavior moderated the effect of power on outcomes, so that negotiators were differentially effective in any given power condition depending upon the messages employed. Finally, it was found that participants’ message behavior was often counterproductive in maximizing outcomes.

Linguistic Indicators of Suicidality in Crisis Negotiations

Current data from the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBIs) Hostage, Barricade, and Suicide (HOBAS) data base indicates that suicides and attempted suicides account for more than one-third of all crisis negotiation incidents to which police respond and that barricade stand-offs, which may involve potential suicides, account for nearly an additional two-thirds of all reported incidents. It is, therefore, essential that insight into potential predictors of suicidality is a critical concern to crisis negotiators as they strive to successfully resolve incidents involving mentally and emotionally distraught persons. Research derived from clinical investigations of suicidal ideation and suicide enactment suggests that certain linguistic dimensions of subject verbal communication do predict suicidality. Specifically, use of personal pronouns, word length, emotional words, and adjective and adverb usage are regarded as indicators of suicide. This investigation explored the power of these and other linguistic variables to differentiate crisis negotiation incidents that ended in suicide or surrender. Results indicate that clinically derived linguistic correlates of suicide do not hold true in crisis incidents.