The Public Relation - Essay Example

Name : Institution : Title : Tutor : Course : Date : Abstract The public relation in regards to Giddens has been said to lead in the dichotomy that has dominated public relation that is agency oriented. This theory neglects the power of the structures and the theories that are critical and views it as the strategic action that is hidden and as it is seen to dominate the public sphere. From this point of view is that there are two conclusions that are made through this article. The first conclusion is that there is enhancement that is based on making the people understand more on the theory of modernity through public relation that involves the socio-historical terms (Falkheimer 2006). These terms are connected to the concepts that are related to risk, trust, legitimacy or the expert system. The second result is that the structuring of the theory brings out the challenges that is mass oriented and is in relation to the public relation theory that is discovered to be on the basis of enhancing the understanding that is holistic. This on the other hand is the fundamental knowledge that is based on the local context of reproducing and transformation of the social instrument. According to the theory by Giddens (Ewen 1996), it is clear that the there is a third party in the perspective of the public relation. These are in regards to the managerial, traditions perspective, functionality and the approaches that are critical when it comes to interpretation. Giddens work has been put into three categories namely, the critic that concerns the social theory, late modernity theory and the structural theory. This paper is aimed at discussing the modernity theory as discussed by Jesper Falkheimer. Late Modernity Theory by Jesper Falkheimer This theory has been neglected and despaired for sometimes now and has seen to it the introduction of the organizational systems that are responsible for the undeveloped nature of nations. This theory has seen dominance of the perspective of the theory that has been classical in nature and thus being coherent and approaches that are of the functionalistic. In addition, this theory has developed a nature of overusing rational plans and communications that are universal and situational reasoning and approaches that are flexible. By looking at these approaches, Jesper is in a position of looking at the development of the theory, which in turn leads to the following of the direction that is more useful in the direction of two theories. The two theories are structuration theory and late modernity theory (Ewen 1996). Therefore, Jesper looks at the ideas that are emerging from the public relations point of view and the related field that is found in the communication of the organization and the situation that is similar. On the other hand, jesper explains that there has been a lot of domination by the ethnocentric and the mainstream of the perspective that is US- biased. This is because it has been noticed that the theory has been greatly contributed by Witmer and Cozier who are Americans. This theory of public relation has had a lot of case studies that has contributed to the structional theory that has seen the interplaying of the nature of the society and the human action. Giddens theory of public relation has contributed to the understanding of the professional identity and the practitioners of the public relations that have the professional identity when it is a question of developing a point of view. He adds that the debates on the role of public relation have led to the simple argument that the society has to deal with it as it is. These critics are seen to be proclaiming the ideology of public relation being a practice that is corporate and it has been used to deceive the public and it has hidden the truth from the public and has denied them the chance of knowing what actually is going on in the public domain. The public relation has not been seen to be one of the social institutions according to Jesper who takes this response from the researchers that entail that this has been given little or no interest at all (Falkheimer 2006). These findings are as a result of the cultural and social theory in regards to public relations. Through the article, one will realize that there is little interest that is paid by Gidden when it is a question of natural science becoming the focal focus of the social theory. Instead, he is seen promoting the hermeneutic approach that is seen placing the human being in the middle of the theory. This is because the humans are accustomed to get through their intentions, norms and actions, which may make them, be in a position of interfering with their livelihood. Moreover, when one looks at the perspectives that are related to the hermeneutic process, he will be interpreting the process of communication in a way that it will not interfere with the development of the society. Late modernity theory The modern social development as well as the current analysis was the third stage focus in Gidden’s ideology in relation to the Bob Dylan view on the divergent evolution of time in the year 1964. Giddens based his view on the issue where there is fast evolution of the living style in the rapid evolving environment. This is reflected in his book the Giddens developed in the year 2002 and it entailed reasoning that the world is evolving at an extra-ordinary speed that our history is also in parallel to changes which captures a wide range of regions. Giddens view on the rapid evolving environment, are in great contrast to that of Lyotard developed in the year 1986. Lyotard issues were a reflection of the post modernity reflection of his radical nature towards fresh social and cultural setting that that differed to the modern current organization as well as the coherent reasoning. More over, the views reflected in normal history, systematic as well as objectivity knowledge, linear development are injected towards social difference in the social in relation to the minimal values. Despite the modern settings being based on past authority, it develops their authority focusing on the auxiliary cultures entailing group meditative narrative, myths based locally, as well as evolving commercial identities. The past authority engaging the humans as well as the narratives and signs are not rigid towards transformation. Factors such as globalization, transition, multiculturalism, as well as delocalization, are viewed as aspects of post-modernity impact. The post-modernity view is focused towards solipsistic ideology that entails ontology, which therefore was a reflection of the 1970s development of the design as well as architecture that is in constant interpretation by the modern society. This view is not in extinction and this is supported by the Giddensian ideologies. Giddens theory shows that social behavior of both early and current authority is radically endorsed focusing on the global arena in relation to its ancient development (Ewen 1996). In the year 1990, Gidden focuses on three major distinct evolving modernity sources that involved the Time and space separation, 110 Jesper Falker knowledge, depicts the reflection appropriation, and finally dealt with the disembodying system progress. In relation to this, the difference increase in the space as well as time has influenced increased evolution as compared to ancient organization, scope of enlargement, as well as enlargement of the current organization scope. Generally, this factor in modern advancement has led to the uncertainty as well as risk management steps. The risk identification were grouped into two major ways where by the first risk being impeached on the external environment involving the nature like floods as well as plaques. In addition, is the second risk experience which entailed manufactured risk that reflect situations that we have no historical control on, in connection to globalization and human relative activity like subway, as portrayed in the Giddens book page 26 in the year 2002. The author of Risk Society developed in 1992 reflects Ulrich Beck view, as enacted by the Giddens risk foundation analysis in relation to individual reflection in coordination to the ancient and current human choices. The risk involved reflects the feeling of people unlike issues as the different environment risk changes. This has led to the reflection that living in the secular involves heightened risk in the situation where fateful events dominates, as reflected by the Giddens book page 182, developed in the year 1991. The constructional perspective can be related to the hermeneutic approach and it is discovered that the main focus is shifted to the social context from the individual point of view. This has been seen in the development of the interpretation that is done from within the context of the human being. This is as a result of the research that has been done poorly. There are four statements that can be used in the explanation of the constructive perspective. The first one is that the society is seen as the product from the human being. In addition, the habits that are adopted from the society are those that are done from time to time and they consolidate the rationale and reflective practices. From the article, one will understand the basis that other scholars based their argument on the late modernity theory. One of the scholars is Ulrich Beck who is an author talk of the theory to be of a self reflexive perspective. Moreover, he talks of it having to rely more on choice. His main objective was to have a risk analysis that would look at the different lifestyle of individuals that will measure these risk scenarios. In addition, he talks of "Living in a secular risk culture is inherently unsettling, and feelings of anxiety may become particularly pronounced during episodes which have a fateful quality" (Giddens, 1991, p. 182). This theory has led to many resistances that have seen the development of the emancipations of the hierarchies and the traditions that are used by individuals to in creating these new lifestyles, one of them being life politics. It is believed that this has really been affected by the theory since politics is all about the late society that is modern. Nevertheless, this is about the challenges in the society according to Giddens. The other reason is that the scientists have lost their taste on rationality and reasoning. This is from the fact that the scientists have been known to have their way of causing risk to the society when it comes to being rational. There is a difference between Becks point of view and Giddens when they argue on how to handle the risk that is in the society. Giddens argue that the society should reshape their scientific belief and on the other hand Becks believe that the society should work with the mass media when the economy of the society is threatened. Moreover, the reason why the public have failed to have trust in the scientist point of view of handling risk is the industrial scandals (Becks 1992). Giddens propose that the individuals should start gaining trust in the scientist point of view but this can only be done when the scientist are enlightened and taught on the ways that they should communicate with the public. This is because the scientists have failed when it comes to public relations. In regards to the late modernity, there is a development that takes place between the society, organization and the public when it is a question of trust and legitimacy. Inclusion refers to a system of education that merges special education and general education such that children who have disabilities and therefore require special education learn in the same environment and classroom setting similar to that which normal children learn in. In the past, special and general educations have been viewed as two distinct sections of the education system. Special education is dedicated to providing learning opportunities to children who are diagnosed with disabilities as well as disorders that impede their normal learning experience. The philosophy behind inclusion is the need to have children with disabilities and disorders that affect their learning experience to have equal learning opportunities similar to those that don’t have disorders. Every child is entitled to equal opportunities in life and thus the need to have children with disabilities and disorders treated similar to their normal peers. Trough inclusion, children with disabilities gain from learning in a normal classroom setting while their normal peers get to understand their problems and learn how to cope with them (Becks 1992). As such, public schools are required to offer a range of services in the least restrictive classroom situation for all children. A number of staff is involved in the inclusion process. This includes special education teachers, normal teachers, paraeducators, counselors, parent (Archer 1982). Despite the increase of inclusion within schools, there has been a negative perception towards inclusion since most of the educators involved feel not adequately equipped to handle children with ASD. This is because children who have ASD normally have significant challenges especially learning, communication and social interaction which makes them difficult to deal with. This makes teachers in regular schools to have difficulty in dealing effectively with these children. In addition, there are a small number of models and procedures that have been developed to facilitate successful inclusion of students with ASD into the regular classroom and thus teachers are faced with the duty of designing curriculums for inclusion in the absence of comprehensible procedures and protocols. A study carried out in public schools in Pennsylvania found out that most principals were in favor of inclusion but most of the teachers who were to spend most of the time with these students were not (Becks 1992). Most of these teachers were trained in segregated schools thus lack the necessary skills and knowledge on how to interact with children with disabilities. In addition, socialization is a significant consideration in the process of inclusion since it is an essential element in successful inclusion at any level. Normal students are not taught how to identify with, accept, and care for the students with disabilities which makes it difficult for successful inclusion of disabled students. This gives teachers a hard time trying to facilitate a favorable environment for these two types of students who will be in conflicts most of the time. This is because students with disabilities normally have little knowledge and skill in developing good relationships with their peers which is a major impairment area in autism (Archer 1982). Paraprofessionals are individuals that are hired with the aim of assisting professional with their work in times of shortages and an increasing workload. There has been a dramatic increase in the number of paraeducators due to a continuing shortage in the number of school professionals, a change of teacher’s roles over time and the expansion of the educational and related services to incorporate an educational model, which provides inclusive education for children with disabilities. Paraeducators assist both in mainstream as well as special education classrooms. The legal culture of a country refers to the various models of legally oriented shared behavior. It includes such aspects as the number of lawyers, judges, the litigation process, control of the court system, as well as the running of the prison and corrections facilities. One of the major issues of concern within the legal culture in southern Europe countries is inefficiency in their judicial systems which are characterized by corruption and legal delays. These hinder the execution of court rulings as they are lengthened so as to suit some of the parties involved yet hurting the others. Below is a discussion on the various causes of legal delay and then the role that culture plays in fostering such delays. The numbers of lawyers has increased over the years with a figure of about 150,000. This increase is seen to be as a result of a number of causes such as easy entrance examinations and the amount paid to lawyers per legal act. Since the costs incurred during litigation are comparatively low, they are not a limitation to the litigation process. As such, most of the lawyers will rarely seek for any form of settlement prior to the case being presented in court This is because a delay caused to one party leads to the postponement of the verdict which the other party to the case is after. In addition, the premise that there exists no culture of compromise in Italy lays the foundation for such delays for both civil as well as penal processes. Institutional factors are those that arise due to the limitations facing the judicial system. The judicial system lacks the necessary resources needed to cater for the huge workload that it has to perform. The little resources allocated by the government for spending within the court system end up being diverted to other areas as a result of political considerations due to the difficulty arising from the fair allocation of tribunals to meet the demand across the country. Most of the employees within the system are underpaid and are subjected to formalistic ethics that are unfavorable to them. Despite having a judicial autonomy to prevent political interference, the judicial system lacks the knowledge and resources of averting such interference. Most of the courts are headed by individuals who lack managerial skills with little support being provided to foster a managerial approach to the running of the courts while those that have difficulty in managing due to the constitutional independence guaranteed to their juniors. The lack of courts that deal in small claims has resulted in a huge backlog of cases making delay inevitable. In addition, there are very a small number of mediation schemes that have been set up by the chambers of commerce hence most arbitrations being settled by courts which are only afforded by the rich within the society. It is in the best interests of the powerful members within society for there to be legal delays. First, most governments end up saving money when they do not spend revenue on the courts system hence benefiting the tax payer who ends up paying lower taxes. This is usually the case since most of the cases that are delayed frequently involve the government, which usually is trying to avoid expenditures that could result from court rulings requiring immediate payments of large sums of money Powerful members of society opt for delay tactics which end up postponing jail terms, payments for damages, and other outcomes of court rulings that could not be in their favor. For example, big business can opt for judicial arbitration in order to settle disagreements but this is a very costly option despite the quick justice guaranteed. They thus opt for the much slower and less costly option that will allow them to continue holding their money making more profits from their business dealings as opposed to making settlements in the courts. All of those involved in the delaying the legal process involving a case end up benefiting in one way or the other. The intermediaries involved such as judges, lawyers, banks, debt collection agencies, and guarantors are provided with the opportunity to benefit. For example, banks usually end up gaining when they act as depositors during long cases involving bankruptcy charges. The parties involved in a particular case could pay Judges for postponing the date for passing the verdict. Those that are well versed with the delaying tactics are therefore advantaged when engaging in litigation procedures since they know when to opt for quick settlements or employ delaying tactics (Carey 1988). They usually have the power, influence, and resources to make the process to delay. It is in the best of interests for most powerful members of the society such as politicians and wealthy businessmen to have a judicial system that is prone to outside interference so that they will be able to maneuver around in the event that they will be charged in court for wrong doing. There are several presuppositions that have been made in regards to the late modern theory according to Jesper Falkheimer. The first presupposition is that the core of the public relation is the process of communication that is dynamic. Moreover, it should also be ideological, spatial and temporal. This is because the communication has the ritual model to communication that will in turn focus on rational and sense-making. This is sometimes found to be in contrast with the belief of modern model of transmission. The second one is that one does not have to be a professional to have a chance to have better communication in public relation but anybody in the organization can have better communication skills. This can be explained by: "This means that the analysis needs to move away from roles and address the involvement of all organizational members in the enactment of ongoing public relations communication" (Cozier & Witmer, 2003, p. 23) The other presupposition is that public relation should be placed in a position where by it can be analyzed as a communication with an ideological force which can be used to make a difference in the age of life politics (Carey 1988). Conclusion When it comes to analyzing the Giddens theory, there are a lot of disadvantages and advantages that are related to the theory. All this is according to Jesper Falkheimer, who argues that the theory has got influences in the public relations sector. The main advantage of the theory is that there is a lot of understanding that is related to the analyzing and contributing to the theory. Moreover, the modernity theory is applicable because of the relationship it has with the public and the influences that it renders to the societal phenomenon. This can be related to the difference that is found in political, economical and cultural implications. Bibliography Archer, M. S. (1982). Morphogenesis versus structuration: On combining structure and action. The BritishJournal of Sociology, 33(4), 455-483. Beck, U. (1992). Risk society: Towards a new modernity. London: Sage. Carey, j. W. (1988). Communication as culture: Essays on media and society. New York: Routledge. Cozier, Z., & Witmer, D. (2001). Structuration analysis of new publics. In R. L. Heath (Ed.), Handbook of public relations (pp. 615-623). Thousand Oak, CA: Sage. Ewen, S. (1996). PRJ A social history of spin. New York: Basic Books. Falkheimer,j., & Heide, M. (2006). Multicultural crisis communication: Towards a social constructionist perspective. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 4(14), 180-189. Falkheimer, j., & Jansson, A. (Eds.). (2006). Geographies of communication: The spatial Turn in media studies. Gothenburg, Sweden: Nordicom. Giddens, A. (1979). Central problems in social theory: Action, structure and contradiction in social analysis. Berkeley: University of California Press. Giddens, A. (1984) The constitution of society: Outline of the theory of structuration. Cambridge: Polity Press. Giddens, A. (1990). The consequences of modernity. Cambridge, MA: Polity Press. Giddens, A. (1991). Modernity and self-identity: Self and society in the late modern age. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press. Giddens, A. (1998). The third way: The renewal ofsocial democracy. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press. Giddens, A. (2002). Runaway world: How globalisation is reshaping our lives. London: Profile. Grunig, j. (Ed.). (1992). Excellence in public relations and communication management. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Grunig, j. E., & Hunt, T. (1984). Managing public relations. Orlando, FL: Harcourt Brace. Lyotard,j.-F. (1986). The post-modern condition: A report on knowledge. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press. Shotter, J. (1993). Conversational realities: Constructing life through language. London: Sage. Read More