Page 343 - Mike Ratner CC - WISR Complete Dissertation - v6

“In the beginning, the facilitators explained that this wasn’t a debate, it was a dialogue and

we were all to speak and share our experiences in an equal manner and that we were to

create a safe place so people could share.” (P04FW)

The element of safety emerged as the core dimension. Without an environment of safety,

the success of the dialogues on race, as defined as a group of committed individuals who thought

the meetings were important to the health of the community, would have been limited. Of all the

dimensions identified, safety most appropriately captures the phenomena of the research topic

(Kools et al., 1996)—dialogues on race. The condition of safety among dialogue participants, as

supported by the facilitators, was a key basic social process underlying the success of the dialogue

sessions (Glaser & Strauss, 1967).

The absence of safety may have been further reduced attendance by African Americans

and Whites, resulting from feelings of fear and discomfort associated with attending and the

possible consequences. It had been a consideration. Further discussion of the dimension titled

consequence, is included in the discussion of theoretical propositions, Chapter V.

Other Considerations and Conclusion

As Block (2008) noted, the small group is the unit of transformation. Small groups produce

an environment for transformation by giving space to diversity of thinking and dissent space,

allowing the formation of commitments without the need to barter, and by acknowledging and

valuing the gifts of people from the community (Block, 2008). Certainly, part of the power

generated by the community dialogues on Implicit Bias was the opportunity for members of the

community to gather again later during two separate occasions in 2016 and 2017 to confront issues

of race with groups of people who previously were strangers to one another. The gathering

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