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1st Student's Major

Communication Studies

1st Student's College

Arts and Humanities

Students' Professional Biography

Growing up in a small town in northern Minnesota, I got a Nursing Assistant’s Certificate after high school. Working in the Nursing field for about 6 years, I decided to broaden my horizons and try something different. I attended Rochester Community and Technical College to finish my Associates degree. With help from an advisor, and several aptitude tests, I decided that Communication had always been an important factor in my life. From participating in Competition Speech as a high school student, to communicating with my patients, I loved the aspect of how communication affects everyone’s life. In becoming an effective communicator will only help a person become successful in whatever occupation they are in. After receiving my AA degree, I moved to Mankato, Minnesota and received my BA in Speech Communication from Minnesota State University, Mankato in May of 2005. I am currently a student at Boise State University, Idaho pursuing my Masters in Communication Studies with an emphasis in Interpersonal Communication. My long term goals are to become a professor in Communication Studies and receive my Doctorate at the University of Colorado, Boulder. My hopes are to increase my knowledge in the field of Communication and continue to learn about interpersonal relationships and conflict management. I still love to work with the elderly and mentally disabled individuals on a part time basis while attending school. I look forward to the challenges that I will have to face while becoming a professor and furthering my research in Communication.

Mentor's Name

Daniel Cronn-Mills

Mentor's Email Address

daniel.cronn-mills@mnsu.edu

Mentor's Department

Communication Studies

Mentor's College

Arts and Humanities

Abstract

This qualitative research project focuses on the verbal and non-verbal communication practices of a recovering alcoholic during the first month of sobriety. Using an ethnographic research method and analyzing the data by means of interpretive and symbolic interactionism, it explains how the organization, ‘Alcoholics Anonymous’(A.A.), helped a 33-year-old woman face her alcoholism and find the resources to get sober and stay sober. The results of this research show that a variety of verbal practices are displayed by using stories and metaphors. Non-verbal communication practices are used in the rituals that the organization, ‘Alcoholics Anonymous’, exercises and also in what the organization teaches the recovering alcoholic to use in their every day life. In the application of stories, metaphors, and rituals the organization and subject are able to communicate in exclusive, yet unique, ways that only they can truly understand. This research is an attempt to appreciate and comprehend the first month of sobriety and how communication is a survival mechanism that helps the alcoholic to stay sober.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

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