UNIVERSITY of CALIFORNIA Santa Barbara the Communicative Construction of Safety in Wildland Firefighting a Dissertation Submitte
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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Santa Barbara The Communicative Construction of Safety in Wildland Firefighting A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Communication by Jody Lee Shepherd Jahn Committee in charge: Professor Karen Myers, Co-Chair Professor Linda Putnam, Co-Chair Professor David Seibold Professor John Mohr June 2012 The dissertation of Jody Lee Shepherd Jahn is approved. ______________________________________________ Karen K. Myers (Co-Chair) ______________________________________________ Linda L. Putnam (Co-Chair) ______________________________________________ David R. Seibold ______________________________________________ John Mohr June 2012 The Communicative Construction of Safety in Wildland Firefighting Copyright © 2012 by Jody Lee Shepherd Jahn iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation marks the end of a transformative six-year journey. This effort would not have been possible without the encouragement and support from four foundational communities. In these acknowledgements, I thank my mentors, peers, collaborators and touchstones for their ongoing advice, feedback, assistance, brilliance, perspective and love. Mentors. I feel extremely fortunate to have encountered such supportive and knowledgeable mentors throughout my time at UC Santa Barbara. First, I thank my committee members Drs. Karen Myers, Linda Putnam, David Seibold and John Mohr. Karen and Linda, thank you for serving as Co-Chairs on my committee. You have been extraordinarily generous with your time and work. You have read numerous drafts for all aspects of this project, and provided extensive, timely and thoughtful feedback from beginning to end. I thank you both for your clarity, insight and encouragement throughout this process. You have believed in the theoretical and practical importance of this work, and have pushed me to dig deeply into the concepts. Karen, you were my first mentor in graduate school. From working together on the STEM project, through Chairing my MA thesis and Co-Chairing this dissertation, your mentorship has been absolutely essential to my growth as a scholar; your firm expectations combined with tremendous compassion have helped me to truly believe in myself. iv Linda, you have demonstrated time and again that absolutely anything is possible through persistence and commitment to the ideas. From our early work on second-generation gender issues, to applying for the Joint Fire Science grant, through this dissertation project, I have learned the value of multiple revisions, and have come to embrace opportunities to start over with an idea. I have appreciated your encouragement to aim for big goals, and your commitment to making sure the work is done well. Dave, thank you for your guidance through the years. Your seminar on groups and our collaboration of the dark side of teams chapter were formative writing experiences for me. You taught me that a well-crafted argument sells the importance of an idea. John, thank your for your willingness to serve as my outside committee member. I am glad I had the opportunity to get to know you through your Foucault seminar. I have appreciated your insights through the years, and your enthusiasm about this project. In addition to my committee members, I have been fortunate to work with generous and informative members of the UCSB Communication Department. Dr. Cynthia Stohl, thank you for your insightful support while serving on my MA committee. Also, it was a joy to work as your TA for two quarters. You provided a fantastic example for engaging students’ interests by setting high standards and truly believing they would attain them. Also, Dr. Dolly Mullin, you are the lifeblood of the v TA program. I thank you for your ongoing practical guidance in developing skills for professionally managing the classroom. Peers. I thank the Communication Department graduate student community for making this department a fertile place to learn and grow. Specifically, Andrea Joseph, Bernadette Gailliard and Katy Pearce, these were six challenging, fun and special years together. Thank you for the laughs, the shoulders to cry on and the all- night paper-writing marathons. Lucy Popova and Abby Prestin, I appreciate your straightforward, no-nonsense advice and feedback during graduate school, and from the “other side.” Collaborators. I am grateful for the generous grant support from the Joint Fire Science Program, which funded this dissertation. I thank John Cissel and Jim Saveland for endorsing, encouraging and believing in the scientific relevance and practical application of this project. In particular, I thank Dr. Anne Black who, as federal cooperator on the grant, has provided invaluable feedback at every stage. In addition to Anne, thank you also to Alexis Lewis and Jennifer Zeigler for our engaging and constructive exchange of ideas, and our shared commitment to the applied importance of our fire-related research. At the national level of the US Forest Service, I thank Vince Welbaum, Larry Sutton, Bill Waterbury and Daniel Crittenden, who have provided invaluable support in promoting the value of this project to their colleagues, and for connecting me with the firefighting community. Finally, I thank the firefighters who participated in both phases of this project. I am particularly vi grateful for the participation of West Fork and Manzanita crews who graciously donated their time for interviews and who provided crucial insights to Study One. Touchstones. I have been fortunate to have a solid foundation of love and support from my touchstones throughout the ups and downs of this process. Mom and Dad, thank you for always believing in me. You both taught and modeled the values of hard work and perseverance. Mom, your creativity and curiosity have always inspired me to see what is around the next corner, and to trust that there is enough of everything; Dad, your tutelage has shown me that anything is attainable with elbow grease and a thermos of coffee. Mom and Dad, Fred and Elizabeth, Oden and Kathleen, Jonna, John, and Esther, you have each provided unwavering support, thoughtful advice and wise perspective. You are my touchstones. Thank you. vii Jody L. S. Jahn June 2012 EDUCATION Ph.D., Communication, University of California Santa Barbara, June 2012 Committee: Drs. Linda Putnam and Karen Myers (Co-Chairs); David Seibold, John Mohr Title: The Communicative Construction of Safety in Wildland Firefighting M.A., Communication, University of California Santa Barbara, 2008 Committee: Drs. Karen Myers (Chair), David Seibold, Cynthia Stohl Title: Vocational Anticipatory Socialization: The Role of Schemas in Learning Math and Science and Choosing Math and Science Careers. B.S., Communication, University of Idaho, 2001 REFEREED ARTICLES Myers, K. K., Jahn, J. L. S., Gailliard, B., Stoltzfus, K. (2011). Vocational Anticipatory Socialization (VAS): A Communicative Model of Adolescents' Interests in STEM. Management Communication Quarterly, 25, 87-120. BOOK CHAPTERS Putnam, L.L., Jahn, J. L. S., & Baker, J. S. (2010). Intersecting difference: A dialectical perspective. In D. K. Mumby (Ed.), Organizing differences: Research, pedagogy, and practice. Los Angeles, Sage Publications. Seibold, D. R., Kang, P., Gailliard, B. M., & Jahn, J. L. S. (2009). Communication that damages teamwork: The dark side of teams. In P. Lutgen-Sandvik & B. Davenport-Sypher (Eds.). The Destructive Side of Organizational Communication: Processes, Consequences and Constructive Ways of Organizing. Mahwah, NJ: Routledge/Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. GRANTS 2010 United States Department of the Interior, Joint Fire Science Program, “The Communicative Construction of Safety in Wildland Firefighting,” $81,000 CONFERENCE PAPERS viii Jahn, J. L. S. (April 2012). Communication and High Reliability: How the Crew Environment Facilitates or Inhibits Wildland Firefighter Learning. Paper presented to the International Association of Wildland Fire, Seattle, WA. Jahn, J. L. S. (April 2011). Learning by Doing: Wildland Firefighters’ Stories about their Pivotal Fireline Learning Experiences. Paper presented to the International Association of Wildland Fire, Missoula, MT. Jahn, J. L. S. (November 2010). Social Bodies: Bringing Materiality into Theorizing about High Reliability Organizations. Paper presented to the Organizational Communication Division of the National Communication Association, San Francisco, CA. Jahn, J. L. S., & Myers, K. K. (November 2010). Vocational Anticipatory Socialization (VAS) and STEM: Communication and Adolescents’ Frameworks. Paper presented to the Organizational Communication Division of the National Communication Association, San Francisco, CA. Putnam, L.L., Jahn, J., & Baker, J. S. (August 2010). Intersecting difference: A dialectical perspective. Paper presented to the Gender and Diversity Workshop of the Academy of Management Conference, Montreal, QC. Putnam, L.L., Jahn, J. L. S., & Baker, J. S. (June 2010). Intersecting difference: A dialectical perspective. Paper presented to the Organizational Communication Division of the International Communication Association, Singapore. Top Paper, Organizational Communication Division. Jahn, J. L. S. (May 2010). Materiality and Wildland Firefighting: A Mixed Methods Approach. Paper presented to the 2nd Human Dimensions of Wildland Fire Conference, International Association of Wildland Fire, San Antonio, TX. Jahn, J. L. S. (April 2010). Media Depicted Roles in STEM as Inducers of Occupational Choice. Paper presented