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The Rhetoric of the Organizational Saga: a Fantasy Theme Analysis of the Organizational Communication Culture of the Louisiana State Police

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The Rhetoric of the Organizational Saga: a Fantasy Theme Analysis of the Organizational Communication Culture of the Louisiana State Police Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1994 The Rhetoric of the Organizational Saga: A Fantasy Theme Analysis of the Organizational Communication Culture of the Louisiana State Police. Brookie Ann Allphin Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Allphin, Brookie Ann, "The Rhetoric of the Organizational Saga: A Fantasy Theme Analysis of the Organizational Communication Culture of the Louisiana State Police." (1994). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 5707. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/5707 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscripthas been reproduced from the microfilm master.TJMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improperalignment can adversely afreet reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original,beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuingfrom left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back of the book. Photographs included in theoriginal manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6" x 9" black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. University Microfilms International A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 North Zeeb Road. Ann Arbor. Ml 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Order Number 9502093 The rhetoric of the organizational saga: A fantasy theme analysis of the organizational communication culture of the Louisiana State Police Allphin, Brookie Ann, Ph.D. The Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical CoL, 1994 300 N. Zeeb Rd. Ann Arbor, MI 48106 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. THE RHETORIC OF THE ORGANIZATIONAL SAGA: A FANTASY THEME ANALYSIS OF THE ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION CULTURE OF THE LOUISIANA STATE POLICE A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Speech Communication by Brookie Ann Allphin B.S., Louisiana State University, 1975 M.A., Louisiana State University, 1979 May 1994 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I dedicate this study to my family and in memory of my grandmothers, Stella D. Allphin, lady rhetorician, and Eugenia Rush, who would be so proud. Without the love, patience, and support of my entire family, I could not have completed this study. You made this possible. God bless you all. To my daughters, Brenna and Brittany, who were four and eight when the program started, thank you for understanding. You have grown up through these years with me and have truly made the greatest sacrifice. Now, my dissertation is done. My husband, Sergeant Kermit Smith, married into this study in its final year and became its impetus. Thank you for your love, support, understanding, and for being such a good Dad. My parents, John and Johnell Allphin, made this possible through their support, patience, meals, carpools, and love. Thank you, Johnnie and Wanda Allphin and the girls, for understanding. To my new family, the Smiths and Lorios, thank you for your support and for understanding as well. My appreciation goes to Dr. E.G. Bormann for his time in responding to my questions, for his inspiration, and his bibliography. I owe special thanks to my committee members: Dr. Donald Ragsdale, who will never really understand the nature of his support, but he believed, and to Dr. King, whose constant understanding and encouragement during the early years, kept the "vision" alive. Thank you Dr. Harold ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Mixon, Dr. Owen Peterson and Dr. Ron Garay for more years of combined support than we would like to remember. Finally, my appreciation to Dr. Ken Zagacki, for rhetoric is epistemic. In memory of Dr. Waldo Braden, I dedicate my effort. He first told me I was to do this. He taught me the art of persuasion and the value of rhetoric. My sincere thanks to Dr. Dan Walsh who read the drafts and introduced me to the culture of State Police. He promised it would change my life. My thanks to the staff of the Office of Government Programs and ATAP for trying to understand me and enduring these last weeks: Carol Conques, Billie Tripp, Chris Smith, Rajesh Dadhia, Carol Hutchinson, Tom Tucker, and especially to Lee Badeaux for typing with me. Donna Burton deserves credit for the final typing. For Marc Goldstein and other friends who have supported this effort, I am most appreciative. Finally, my most sincere thanks to Captain Ed Kuhnert, Commandant of the State Police Academy, to Region III Commander Major W.R. "Rut" Whittington, and to the troopers who shared their stories and their trust. You are "Soldiers of the Law." iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .......................................... ii ABSTRACT .................................................. V CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .................................... 1 2 SURVEY OF CONTRIBUTING LITERATURE ............ 32 3 THE METHOD ...................................... 48 4 EVIDENCE OF A SHARED GROUP CONSCIOUSNESS . 72 5 MAPPING A SHARED SOCIAL REALITY .............. 122 6 PERSONAE AND SAGAS IDENTIFYING CRISIS: IN THE RHETORICAL COMMUNITY ................... 161 7 ACCOMMODATING CHANGE: THE RHETORICAL FUNCTION OF THE SAGAS .... 195 8 DISCUSSION ..................................... 234 REFERENCES ............................................... 252 APPENDICES A LOUISIANA STATE POLICE TRAINING ACADEMY SURVEY AND EVALUATION ........................ 261 B SURVEY FOR LSP IN-SERVICE TRAINING ........... 275 C SUPERINTENDENT'S REMARKS, 69TH CADET CLASS GRADUATION, JULY 2, 1992 285 VITA ...................................................... 288 iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT This dissertation is a fantasy theme analysis of the organizational communication culture of the Louisiana State Police. This study interprets the rhetorical function of the organizational sagas of State Police. State Police has a distinct history aligned with Louisiana Politics. In 1937, General Louis F. Guerre, the first superintendent, envisioned a new State Police, immune from political pressures, "soldiers of the law in the first line of defense for society." The symbolic persona of LSP has survived through fifty-six years of politics and policing as the state's ranking law enforcement agency. As participant observer, the researcher gathered communication data and observations through interviews, informal conversations, and surveys with veteran troopers and cadets. The surveys provide data for content analysis and to correct discrepancies. A fantasy theme analysis as a taxonomy of the symbolic convergence theory of communication provides the methodology to discover and interpret narrative and dramatic communication materials. This study reconstructs the rhetorical visions and sagas as the social reality of the organization to determine how and why members create culture through communication. This analysis validates two overarching organizational sagas of Soldiers of the Law and The Academy. These function as the members' common symbolic bond to the organization. v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. The study reveals that the symbolic personae function as the unifying elements of the sagas and the members1 identification with the organization. Documented in the study are three patterns of symbolic convergence as consciousness creating, raising, and sustaining communication. The LSP Training Academy experience and the graduation ritual function as consciousness creating and raising communication strategies
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