ABSTRACT

When individuals and families experience material hardship, government assistance programs and community services are there to help. The use of government assistance programs in the United States is highly stigmatized due to neoliberal ideology. The present study centers the lived experiences of those who have experienced material hardship and had firsthand experience with public assistance programs. This phronetic research study analyzed 27 semi-structured interviews with welfare recipients to explore how they used communication to cultivate resilience in response to material hardship and adversity. The findings of this study demonstrate the connection between communication behaviors and resilient reintegration. Resilient communication behaviors included the use of a communication network and the construction of occupational and familial identity anchors. When participants lacked resilient communication behaviors, they faced more isolation. This study points to the importance of communication as a resilience process in response to material hardship and neoliberal stigma.

摘要

当个人和家庭遇到物质困难时，政府援助计划和社区服务可以提供帮助。由于新自由主义意识形态，在美国使用政府援助计划受到高度污名化。本研究以那些经历过物质困难并亲身参与公共援助计划的人的生活经历为中心。这项 phronetic 研究分析了对福利接受者的 27 次半结构化访谈，以探索他们如何利用沟通来培养应对物质困难和逆境的应变能力。这项研究的结果证明了沟通行为与弹性重新融合之间的联系。弹性沟通行为包括使用沟通网络以及建立职业和家庭身份锚点。当参与者缺乏弹性的沟通行为时，他们会面临更多的孤立。这项研究指出了沟通作为应对物质困难和新自由主义耻辱的复原过程的重要性。