Abstract
Does the field of Communication need another handbook? If the handbook provides in-depth coverage of the subject of intergroup communication, the answer is yes. The Handbook of Intergroup Communication, edited by Howard Giles, is an important addition to the literature in communication and intergroup relations in two respects. First, for those already teaching and conducting research in this area, the Handbook offers an excellent sampling of current research, theoretical perspectives, and possibilities for future research. Second, for a wider audience, this handbook signifies the maturity of intergroup communication research and calls attention to a paradigmatic framework that can be extended across virtually the entire field of communication. The Handbook therefore ought to be useful to specialists and nonspecialists alike.
As noted in the first chapter, previous monographs (e.g., Giles, 1977; Giles, Reid, & Harwood, 2010; Gudykunst, 1986; and others) have presented concepts and research on intergroup communication in the form of an introductory or intermediate survey. However, the content and format of the Handbook afford the most comprehensive treatment to date. I hasten to add that the comprehensiveness is not necessarily because of a thorough review of research findings (although much research is reported), but rather the Handbook is comprehensive in its scope. By including 28 chapters written by more than 50 authors, many of whom are senior scholars, readers will feel brought up to date on current research trends, but also on theoretical perspectives and promising directions for future research. Furthermore, the Handbook delivers on an important stated goal, which is to point in the direction of a theory of intergroup communication, a goal facilitated though the posing of seven principles of intergroup communication.
Howard Giles commands an excellent vantage point from which to conceptualize the organization of the contents of the Handbook. The broad, ranging field of intergroup communication is presented through individual chapters arranged into six parts: Prologue, Diverse Approaches, Communicative Phenomena and Process, Social Groups and Communication, Applied Domains and Communication, and Epilogue. Each individual chapter also concludes with an epilogue. Despite the breadth of the contents, features such as the recurring epilogues and the general intellectual level of discussion help give the Handbook continuity and uniformity. Many chapters also contain references to other chapters, an indication of careful editing.
Part I is a general prologue by Howard Giles. This chapter sets the tone for the entire book through its orientation to the main idea behind the project. By exploring numerous areas of research that can be located under the umbrella of intergroup communication, Part I prepares readers for the diversity of investigations and concepts that follow. The epilogue that concludes Part I presents the first four principles of intergroup communication, and thus stimulates thoughts of theorizing about intergroup communication.
Part II, Diverse Approaches, gives readers a solid background in the main research traditions within intergroup communication. Social psychological research has been prominent throughout the evolution of scholarship in intergroup relations and this chapter develops a firm foundation for understanding social identity theory and social cognition. Other chapters in Part II cover research methods and language-oriented approaches, including ethnography, discursive psychology, and sociolinguistics.
Part III, Communicative Phenomena and Process, provides discussions of research with an emphasis on language, speech, and communication codes. These chapters show how at the individual, group, national, and international level, verbal and nonverbal messages can shape and reinforce intergroup bias, and pave the way for antagonistic relations. Several of these chapters examine prolonged and intractable intergroup dilemmas, with analyses of accompanying communication, direct and indirect, that threaten outgroups and thwart attempts at conflict resolution.
Part IV, Social Groups and Communication, recognizes the importance of demographics and occupational roles in social identity, stereotyping, and intergroup bias. These chapters clearly illustrate how the intergroup communication perspective has wide application across the field of communication. Gender, intergenerational dynamics, sexual orientation, health, law enforcement, and religion are discussed in a way that helps readers view communication dynamics through the intergroup lens.
In Part V, we find a series of applications of intergroup communication. This section of the Handbook examines various contexts (health care, education, organizational communication, family, sports fandom, and race-related media usage), showing how insights from intergroup communication inform our understanding of the way individuals develop identities in these settings. Whether individuals are in health care teams in a hospital, work in departments in an organization, or share a group identity as fans of a sports team, the intergroup communication framework shows how group membership can influence individual identity needs and how members of the group relate to those in other groups.
The Epilogue, Part VI, is where some themes from the preceding chapters are discerned and developed with an emphasis on the crucial role communication plays in intergroup dynamics. This chapter deserves careful reading, but a full understanding must also take into account important concepts from the previous chapters. The Epilogue stresses the significance of “norm talk,” the set of linguistic and communicative resources through which group members maintain their shared identity and engage in styles of interaction preferred by the group. It is through norm talk that groups maintain their distinctiveness and social identity, and members achieve a sense of belonging. Members who are prototypically central to the group exert leadership in influencing group norms, and thus play a key role. The Epilogue also discusses diversity within groups, culturally-influenced norms, and issues of trust and distrust in intergroup dynamics. Finally, the Epilogue poses three additional principles of intergroup communication. As noted earlier, the seven principles suggest integrative, pretheoretical analysis, in an attempt to bring greater coherence to the varied forms of research that can be considered within the domain of intergroup communication.
The idea of a handbook is a type of manual, a ready reference from which one can learn the basic information about a subject. In this case, the Handbook of Intergroup Communication provides a comprehensive and engaging account of this field of research. Moreover, the Handbook offers a good sense of not only where the field has been but also where it may be profitably headed.