CITATION AND COPYRIGHT INFORMATION:
Cite as: Dervin, B., Harpring, J., & Foreman-Wernet, L. (1999). In moments of concern: A Sense-Making study of pregnant, drug-addicted women and their information needs. The Electronic Journal of Communication [On-line serial] 9 (2, 3, & 4).
© The Electronic Journal of Communication (1999).

ABSTRACT:
This is a study of struggles and successes faced during pregnancy by ten drug-addicted mothers. The focus was their information needs studied using the meta-theory and methods of Sense-Making Methodology which defines information as that which assists sense-making and sense-unmaking. The women related 40 moments of concern for themselves or their unborn children, with descriptions of situations, questions and thoughts they had, ways in which they tried to get answers, and how answers helped and/or hindered. Results suggested that the women were acutely aware of struggles they faced, describing these as occurring against a background of hopelessness, fear, and guilt. At the same time, the women gave overt guidance to caretakers with a genuine interest in providing assistance rather than further stigmatization. The women wanted to be listened to, and supported in the context of their real material lives. The discourse context for the study is the literature on public communication campaigns directed at this audience, and the failure of traditional approaches focused on remedying people’s deficits. A comparison is made of assumptions usually implemented and those that would need to be brought to bear if campaigns were genuinely audience-centered.

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OTHER MATERIALS BY THESE AUTHORS ON THIS WEB SITE:
For Dervin,
See: http://communication.sbs.ohio-state.edu/sense-making/AAauthors/authorlistdervin.html
For Harpring,
See: http://communication.sbs.ohio-state.edu/sense-making/AAauthors/authorlistharpring.html
For Foreman-Wernet,
See: http://communication.sbs.ohio-state.edu/sense-making/AAauthors/authorlistforemanwernet.html