COMS 311

Unit 2.6:
The Socio-Cultural Tradition of Communication
Table of contents
• Su 1 - Definitions, metatheory, models, approaches and contexts
• Su 2 - Seven traditions in the communication field
• Su 3 - Theories related to The Self and Messages
• Su 4 - Relationship Development Theories
• Su 5 - Theories related to Groups and Organisations
• Su 6 - Theories related to The Public
• Su 7 - Media Ecology Theory
• Su 8 - Culture and Diversity
• Su 9 – Theory and research
Outcomes
After engaging with the materials and activities in this study unit you should be
able to:
• Outline the key principles of the socio-cultural communication tradition;
• Critique the socio-cultural communication tradition; and
• Apply the socio-cultural communication tradition to analyse relevant
scenarios.
Prescribed
material
• Craig, R.T. Communication theory as a field. In: Craig, R.T. & Muller, H.L.,
eds. Theorizing communication. Readings across traditions. London: SAGE.
pp. 63-98.
• Littlejohn, S.W. & Foss, K.A. 2008. Traditions of communication theory.
Boston: Wadsworth. pp. 33-62.
 What is the socio-cultural
tradition?
Through our interaction with other we construct ourselves
 What does the Socio—cultural
tradition focus on?
• Emphasises the collective over the individual
• Tries to understand how people create shared realities through their social
groups, cultures and organisations.
This tradition explores the
interactional worlds in
which people live,
posting that reality is
not an objective set of
arrangements outside
us, but constructed
through a process of
interaction in groups,
communities and
cultures.
Basic points of departure
• Individuals are (amongst
others) shaped by the groups
they belong to.
• The individual can (to some
extent) be seen as a “product”
of society.
• Different societies have
different “cultures” with
unique norms, rituals, world
views etc., that makes social
change difficult.
• Social interactions can have
unintended effects.
 Community
Culture Group

The socio-cultural
Tradition
• Our interactions with other depend heavily on pre-existing, shared
cultural patterns and social structures.
• Individuals are part of larger groups who have unique patterns of
interaction.
 Basic points of departure
● This tradition focuses on the patterns of interaction between people rather than the
individual.
● Interaction is the site in which meanings, roles, rules and cultural values are worked
out.
● This tradition tries to understand how people create shared realities through their
social groups, cultures and organisations.
● Processes that generate various aspects of relationships, groups and cultures are
explored in this tradition
● Theories in this tradition focus on how meaning is created in social interactions and
how behavioural patterns influence the meaning
 Basic points of departure
● Socio-cultural theorists also focus on how identities are constructed and established
through interactions in social groups.
● Identities become a fusion of ourselves, within social roles, as members of
communities and as cultural beings. Thus this tradition looks at how identity is
negotiated from situation to situation
● The idea of community forms core to many of the theories within this tradition
● Within this theory, context plays an important role as it influences our symbols and
meaning.
 How is communication viewed
in the Socio—cultural
tradition?
• “Culture” determines how we communicate, and how we interpret
communication.
• What is acceptable or unacceptable is affected by “culture”.
• More interaction = more understanding, more understanding = better
communication.
 How is communication viewed
in the Socio—cultural
•tradition?
Communication produces and reproduces
shared sociocultural patterns.
• Social order is created through
communication.
• Communication often “reproduce” social
order, but communication is also needed to
change social order.
https://www.sarugby.co.za/sa-teams-players/springboks/
https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-07-10-red-flags-raised-over-under-the-
table-formation-of-nathi-mthethwas-r30m-new-national-orchestra/
https://za.pinterest.com/pin/217439488242310934/
How can you use
this tradition in
your personal life?
How can you use
this tradition in
your future
profession?
Case study:

Johannesburg - It’s a topic that has often

been overlooked. But film director Renaldo
Schwarp is determined to shine the spotlight
on an issue that has for years affected
thousands of students in South Africa.

https://www.iol.co.za/saturday-star/news/local-film-director-on-a-
mission-to-expose-toxic-campus-culture-in-south-africa-3242ae10-
ad9a-4918-9a5d-09ab143d38ef
 Critiqu
e
• Overlooking individual’s free will
• Overlooking rationality of individuals
• Stereotyping?
 • Prepare SU 2
For your next class: • The critical communication
tradition