The Communicative Construction ofrnInvoluntary Membership

摘要

This study expands conceptions of organizational membership by examining individualsrnwhose relationships with their organizations are traditionally characterized as involuntaryrnin nature. Data from inmates and prison employees in four U.S. and Norwegian correctionalrninstitutions was examined using structuration theory as an emergent interpretivernlens, and five primary ways in which involuntary membership is constructed in communicationrnare identified: physical environment, mobility, relationships, engagement, andrnbody. These facets are presented as the foundation of a continuum-based theoreticalrnperspective on (in)voluntary membership and are discussed for their applicability to futurernresearch and theorizing across organizational communication studies.