Page 11 - Mike Ratner CC - WISR Complete Dissertation - v6

perspectives can be understood as a lens through which we will look, serving to enhance our focus.

It can also be thought of as a frame, designed to include and exclude certain things from our view.

The field of sociology itself is a theoretical perspective based on the assumption that social

systems, structure, statuses, and roles are real. The four theoretical perspectives are important for

my research because it served to organize key concepts and ideas to make them clear to others.

Often, sociologists use multiple theoretical perspectives simultaneously as they frame research

questions, design and conduct research, and analyze their results. (Crossman, Ashley 2018)

The four theoretical stances or propositions that are interwoven throughout include:

1. Co-creating a ‘metaphorical space’ that can transform tension to cohesion

2. Movement and flow from hurtful to heartfelt stories through ‘true hearing’

3. Healing the divide through continued conversation and “bridging the gap”

4. Sharing of insights or reflections that co-evolve into a “next action step plan”.

Each stance offers insights and aided in my understanding of how working through works.

These ideas inform a basis of “whole brain” thinking that’s interwoven in the writing that reflects

some of the intellectual concepts and frameworks I sense can help ‘us’ expand our consciousness

to embrace a wider spectrum of reality that Community Conversations can potentially bring and

that is to first, recognize narrative biases or limits to our own current models of existent thinking.

Then we can open the possibility of sharing a greater context for understanding and exchange that

is helpfully supported within positive spheres of group engagement and open conversation. This

is a realm where we may permissively construct more holistic ways of perceiving and dealing with

our constructed realities. The author’s goal for writing at the outset of the dissertation is that

community as a viable concept represents a subset of society whose opinions and views if

maladjusted negatively affect the whole. As such, Community Conversations may offer a paradox

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