Open AccessCommunicating Crisis to Youth: The role of caregiver crisis communication in youth sensemaking and recovery
Author(s) -
Ronda Oberlin Nowak
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
international crisis and risk communication conference
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2576-9111
DOI - 10.30658/icrcc.2021.15
Subject(s) - sensemaking , meaning (existential) , negotiation , crisis management , context (archaeology) , psychology , qualitative research , crisis communication , meaning making , event (particle physics) , public relations , sociology , political science , psychotherapist , history , social science , archaeology , law , physics , quantum mechanics
A qualitative study was conducted of the response to student deaths by the administrators of two rural high schools. The events are looked at in the dual context of incident management and communication processes, using Coordinated Management of Meaning (CMM) theory. Interviews were conducted with administrators and with members of a student support team that responded to these and similar events. The study finds that negotiation of meaning that takes place between students, and between students and caregivers, is key in students’ processing of the event that they are experiencing. It can also equip them to be more resilient to traumatic events in the future.