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Healing in progress: Ways of speaking in a holistic healing community
Abstract
This dissertation uses the ethnography of communication to explore the ways of speaking in a holistic healing community referred to in this work as Nirvana. The first goal of this study (RQ1) was to describe the worldview patterns of Nirvana community members. The second goal of this study (RQ2) was to discover the communication codes and patterns of in Nirvana. The third goal of this study (RQ3) was to explore the functions and implications of these communication codes and patterns. The first part of the dissertation is devoted to an explanation of the ways that health care systems and practices are constituted and maintained symbolically, and the ways that worldview shapes the actions and interactions of cultural groups. Second, background and contextual information about the use of holistic (or alternative) medicine is discussed. Third, the ethnography of communication as descriptive framework, and the methods and procedures of the study are described. The last chapters of the dissertation are devoted to the results of the study, and were organized according to the research questions. In the second part of the dissertation, a description of community members' worldview, their communication codes and patterns, and the functions and implications of these communication patterns are discussed. The last chapter is devoted to a summary of the study, a discussion of the limitations, and suggestions for future research.
Subject Area
Communication|Language
Recommended Citation
Schreiber, Lisa Marie, "Healing in progress: Ways of speaking in a holistic healing community" (2002). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI3074100.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI3074100