A discourse analysis of African American romantic partners' problematic communication

This dissertation examines problematic face-to-face interaction between heterosexual African American romantic partners. Problematic communication is both normal and pervasive in social interaction. Problematic communication includes any misunderstanding, miscommunication, or disagreement that adversely affects couples' ongoing face-to-face interactions and thereby their relationships.; While there has been considerable research on European American couples and on conflict, few studies in communication have addressed the problematic discourse of African American couples. This dissertation explores the complexity of problematic couple communication. In addition, my dissertation explores the integration of African American communication and gender for ways each informs the problematic social discourse of African American couples. The intersection of these domains elucidates how each creates and predicts patterns of problematic talk. The ultimate goal of this study is to illuminate and foster understanding of problematic practices among heterosexual African American romantic couples.; This dissertation uses discourse analysis methodology which allows examination and understanding of the complexities of naturally-occurring talk, the actions performed in talk and the dilemmas associated with conversation. This approach led to the discovery of the patterns and rules of message transaction that couples in the study used to identify, manage, solve, and cope with problems of everyday communication. Discourse analysis allowed the close examination of what romantic partners actually "did" in conversation, rather than self-reported, idealized performance. The evaluation of naturally-occurring communication data is the source from which critical analysis emerges.; The participants in this dissertation study included three middle class African American couples. Videotaped recordings of the couples' dinner talk were transcribed and analyzed for patterns of problematic communication in the context of African American communication and gendered communication. In addition, interviews with the couples were used to elucidate the interpretation of problematic dialogue between romantic partners from their individual perspectives. Data collected from the discourse analysis of the transcripts and videos, combined with participant interviews worked together to define and refine the research picture, revealing how African American couples define, recount, and manage episodes of problematic communication and the implications problematic discourse may have on relational communication.