Page 341 - Mike Ratner CC - WISR Complete Dissertation - v6

identified by participants and facilitators as the primary aspect of the deliberative dialogue process

and therefore the core dimension. The co-construction of safety emerged as the overriding

dimension upon which other dimensions took shape and were formed. The co-creation of safety

served as a key process element, which helped establish an environment of mutual respect.

A majority of the interview respondents mentioned safety and the process for establishing

a safe environment as a primary driver for the depth of disclosure and the degree of willingness to

disclose sensitive and personal topics and occurrences resulting from perceived bias, racism or

discrimination.

Without safety, the degree of success, as evidenced by new and repeat participants each

session, is unlikely. An environment of safety offered participants and facilitators the opportunity

to risk, share, and expose vulnerabilities that permitted the relaxing of defenses and long held

beliefs that keep people from seeing the true humanness of others (Saunders, 1999). Cultivating

an atmosphere of safety in the group and among members of the dialogue was critical to creating

an experience viewed by participants as informative and productive.

Setting the stage for safe space was a deliberate process that occurred at the beginning of

each of the Community Conversation gatherings. The act of creating safety by explicitly posing of

the question, “What do you need to feel safe?” before beginning the dialogue had an implicit that

was equalizing in its affect. Setting an environment in which attendees pledged to honor group

members’ requests for safety created a high level of commitment to authentic conversation, as well

as good listening and attention between participants.

Similarly, during the third dialogue, one of several co-facilitators present requested at the

conclusion of the safety exercise that participants try to care for one another throughout the course

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