ESSENTIAL SRV: Managing Roles To Improve Social Value

Defending Valued Roles

· When people are devalued it is important to assess which valued roles they have been able to retain and to defend these against further attack.

· For instance if the person being devalued is retired, it might be useful to reinforce the vocational role possessed before retirement and to ensure that the full amount of respect and value due to that role is maintained in retirement.

· Another example would be to reinforce that the ‘schizophrenic’ in your care is also a competent mother, valued partner, good worker etc., especially when in remission or given good symptom relief.

· Mental Illness labels (and Labels may become Roles) are not only ‘sticky (once applied they are difficult to remove), but also tend to be life-defining (taking control over and destroying any valued roles held.)

Maintaining Valued Roles

· Effort must to be made towards assisting people to maintain valued roles if they are in danger of losing them.

· For instance, a person with Alzheimer’s Disease is at particular risk of loosing competencies and images that allow role fulfilment. Extra effort should be put into maintaining any current valued roles.

· People with progressively deteriorating mental illnesses (schizophrenia, schizo-affective disorder) will require assistance with maintaining any valued roles that they have, especially whilst they are in relapse.

Acquiring Valued Roles

· Another strategy would be to assist people who are not currently in a valued role to enter that role.

· For instance, a person with youth-onset schizophrenia could be assisted to acquire valued roles such as flat-mate, worker, friend etc. instead of the unvalued roles of ‘waster’, ‘hospital patient’, ‘burden’, ‘menace’.

· This acquisition of valued roles will of course require competence enhancement and image management.

Re-Valorising Roles

· SRV maintains that a good way of rescuing people from the bad things that society does to them is to change the way that society ‘sees’ them by re-valorising their negative or neutral roles so that they become seen as positive roles..

· In this way, roles that are not currently valued, or not recognised as having potential value may be focused so that they gain public approval and become valued roles.

· For instance, a person with autism may have excellent musical or artistic or numerical skills. These could be seen as just side issues to their autism, but if sufficient effort is made, these roles could be re-valorised to become useful tools to help integrate the person into a group and to protect them from harm. However, care must be taken to ensure that such a person is not encouraged into the role of ‘freak’ by this effort. Interpretation must be positive.

Image And Competence Management

· It is important that people with responsibility for helping people who are devalued attempt to improve the image and competence of such people to enable more valued roles or to maintain current valued roles.

· This Image and Competence management should form part of any plan of care, the goal being the defence, maintenance or acquisition of valued roles.

Role Management

· Specific suggestions for this are:

· If people have valued roles, enhance, enlarge and protect them.

· Avoid entry into any additional devalued roles.

· Examine and support entry into new valued roles.

· Remove people from devalued roles.

· Reduce the signs of negativity from devalued roles.

· If a person is forced into a continuum of devalued roles and it is impossible to avoid this, try to choose the least devalued option.

· If you are sharing social space with a devalued person, be ready to surrender valued roles you have to that person wherever possible.

Action At Different Levels

· SRV requires that if you believe that people should not be devalued and harmed, then actions should to be made to rescue people from severe negative effects of social devaluation.

· SRV is often criticised for making this effort only at a personal level: ‘trying to make the person fit into society. This is in fact not the case, and SRV insists that efforts should be made at all levels to ensure that people at risk of devaluation are better treated.

· However, SRV does maintain that the higher up the socio-political ladder you travel, the harder change becomes. It may in fact be better for the person to be assisted to fit into an acceptable role rather than to make futile efforts to change society. This does not mean that such efforts should not be attempted, but if your main goal is to improve the life outcome of a person, efforts at more personal levels may be more effective.

· SRV suggests that there are four identifiable levels of intervention:

· The Individual Person

· The Immediate Social System around that person (family, friends, colleagues, workers in institutions etc.)

· The Intermediate Social System that the person interacts with (people in shops, banks, organisations etc. plus those institutions themselves.)

· The Larger Society- the socio-political-economic structures of society.

· SRV maintains that intervention at all these levels is important, but assessment must be made of which level is the most important for the individual.

· Action at each level may be made to affect both image and competence at that level to promote entry into and maintenance of valued roles.

·

· ‘Just Like Me’

· Encourage any image, competence or role that will make it more likely that ordinary members of society will see the person as ‘Just Like Me’. As noted above, the more like a person one is, the more protective one is of them. The more roles that are shared, the more competent a person is, and the closer that person is in image to you, the more you will identify with them.

Key Points About Cultural Values To Consider

1. If Possible, draw on idealised values of ‘audience’

2. SRV sensitises one to cultural changes and their implications, e.g., changes in valuation of certain roles

3. Need to be clear whose valuation one is pursuing, and what implications are

4. Conditions under which people can occupy valued roles in a culture despite-or because of- impairments

5. On the societal level, working for tolerance of differences is a major SRV implication, but invites backlash if disproportionate

6. The prevailing cultural values will largely determine who will remain devalued despite valid SRV efforts

Questions To Analyse in regard to the Party whose Valuation one is trying to Recruit

1. What are the values held by that observer party?

2. Is the party on is trying to role-valorise at value risk with the observer party? Why? To what degree?

3. What changes by either party would reduce the value risk?

4. Which of these changes is easier or faster to bring about?

5. What would it take to bring about those specific changes?

6. Which of these changes would be the most practical and feasible?

7. Based on one’s own values, resources etc., which of these changes is one:

A. Willing to pursue?

B. Unwilling to pursue?

8. Is one willing to do anything about those changes one is not going to pursue? If so what?

9. Is there a cost to winning the valuation of this party, in terms of loss of valuation by another party?

10. How do any ongoing value changes in society affect any of the above?

Potential Role-Valorising Strategies If One Wants To Appeal To The Values Of Conflicting Reference Parties

1. Discard/Ignore all but one reference party

2. Find whatever values are shared by all one’s reference parties, and role-valorise against this criterion.

3. If one wants to court multiple parties with role-valorising efforts that do not appeal to all such parties:

A. Valorise areas with one reference party that offend least with another.

B. Try to conceal from each reference party those measures (??that conflict with such parties values)

Issues of SRV Implementation That Can Be Particularly Challenging

1. Resolving one’s reference party

2. Role-valorising in regard to multiple potential reference parties that hold conflicting values.

3. Dealing with different cultural issues

4. Application of SRV to devalued people or classes:

A. Whose devalued status is denied

B. Where that application is not well-explored

C. Where the application is highly emotional or controverted

5. Resolving the optimal degree of integration of a devalued party in various life spheres and activities

6. Dealing with negative stereotypes that have much validity

7. Keeping all role/image communications in mind

8. Considering the impact of the bearer of a value related message.

9. Dealing with complementary roles

10. Dealing with role conflict

11. Fitting the appropriate SRV measure to specific occasions and settings

12. Squeezing optimal value from:

A. Functions

B. Ambiguous situations

13. Resolving SRV issues vis-à-vis strong non-SRV issues:

A. Supra-empirical systems

B. Ideologies outright contrary to role-valorisation, especially if currently popular

C. Strong non-programmatic measures, meritorious or not

14. Model Coherency

15. Dealing with mutually antagonistic SRV measures

16. Maximising imagery and competency simultaneously, even if they are not mutually antagonistic.

17. Dealing with all the different ‘grouping’ issues

18. Using good judgement in knowing when to accept less-than-optimal situations.

A Step-wise Regimen for Applying Social Role-valorising Measures To A Specific Party

1. Becoming deeply familiar with a party’s wounds

2. Knowing the party’s risk factors

3. Inventorising the party’s current roles

A. Positive Roles

B. Negative Roles

4. Explicating the party’s current social standing

5. Reviewing practicalities about image and competency measures

6. Identifying one’s role goals, and then instituting measures accordingly.

Five Overall Considerations in Crafting Specific SRV Measures

1. A judgement has to be made whether for a specific party, image enhancement or competency enhancement will be more effective.

2. A judgement has to be made whether image enhancement or competency enhancement will be the most feasable.

3. The more a party is in devalued roles or at risk thereof, the more important it is that the party’s associations, activities, and locales be valed ones.

4. Valued parties can sometimes contribute to the role-valorisation of devalued people by surrendering some of their own social value.

5. To falsely claim competencies or positive roles for a devalued party can be disastrous.

Six Distinct Potential SRV Goals for Specific Individuals, Groups or Entire Classes

1. Valorisation of the positive roles already held by a party

A. Enhancing or enlarging these

B. Shoring them up against (further) value degradation or loss

2. Averting a party’s entry into (additional) devalued roles

3. Enabling a party’s entry into new valued roles, or to regain previous valued roles

A. For people without valued roles

B. In addition to valued roles already held

C. As replacements for valued roles being lost

4. Extricating a party from devalued roles

5. Reducing the negativity of devalue roles already held by a party

6. Exchanging devalued roles already held by a party for less devalued ones.

Some Overall Points About All SRV Role Goal Pursuits

1. It is usually desirable to pursue several role gals at once

2. One valued role often leads to another, and relationships roles often lead to competency-exercising ones

3. Small positive roles exageratedly enlarged can be counter productive

4. A role goal or implementative measure can compete with one or more other ones because:

A. They are mutually antagonistic

B. They derive from different values

5. People will only respond to positive roles they perceive, therefore:

A. Positive roles held by a party need to be communicated to others

B. A party’s positive activities and achievements need to be interpreted to others in terms of positive roles that they recognise.

Requirements for Role-Valorising Measures to be Either Effective or Maximised

1. Relevance, i.e. precise matching of Type and Nature of a measure to the needs or problems of a person

A. Major problems, needs, and needs hierarchy are correctly addressed

B. In the process of addressing a real need, no avoidable harm is inflicted.

C. Wherever s measure tries to address the problems or needs of more than one person, relevance focus for each person is preserved.

2. Potency, i.e., the measure capitalises on strategies likely to make address of the person’s needs or problems effectively.

A. The most effective strategies for addressing a person’s needs or problems are employed.

B. A person’s time is used with intensity and efficiency.

Seven Distinct Avenues of Valorising the Social Roles of Specific Individuals, Groups or Entire Classes

1/ Valorising the positive roles already held:

a/ Enhancing or enlarging these

b/ Shoring them up against (further) value degradation or loss

2/ Averting entry into (additional) devalued roles

3/ Enabling entry into new valued roles

a/ for people without valued roles

b/ in addition to valued roles already held

c/ as replacement for valued roles being lost

4/ Extricating from devalued roles

5/ Reducing the negativity of devalued roles already held

6/ Exchanging devalued roles already held for less devalued roles

7/ Social value surrender by valued parties

The Hierarchical Structure Of Social Role Valorisation As Organised In The Passing Tool

NOT APPROPRIATE HERE

1/ ULTIMATE GOAL: Enhancement Of The Social Role Of Persons Or Groups At Risk Of Social Devaluation, Via Two Major Sub Goals:

A/ IMAGE: Enhancement Of Their Social Image

B/ COMPETENCE: Enhancement Of Their Personal Competencies

IMAGE Has Four Sub-Categories:

A1/ Physical Settings

Neighbourhood Harmony

Internal And External Appearances And Features

Enhancing Proximity To Other Sites

Enhancing History

A2/ Relationships And Groupings

Enhancing Juxtaposition To Other Programs

Grouping Size That Facilitates Social Integration

Enhancing Grouping Composition

Enhancing Other Social Integration

Enhancing Service Workers

A3/ Activities, Programs And Other Uses Of Time

Enhancing Separation Of Program Functions

Age- And Culture-Appropriate Activities And Schedules

Promotion Of Autonomy And Rights

A4/ Language And Other Symbols And Images

Enhancing Personal Possessions

Personal Appearance

Personal Labels And Service Names And Acronyms

Enhancing Program Funding

COMPETENCE Has Three Sub-Categories

B1/ Physical Settings

Accessibility To Clients, Families, Public

Proximity To Potentially Integrative Resources

Comfortable Environment

Challenging Environment

Individualisation-Facilitating Environment

B2/ Relationships And Groupings

Enhancing Size And Composition Of Groupings

Enhancing Other Social Integration

Programmatic Individualisation

Life-Enriching Interactions

Promotion Of Valued Socio-Sexual Identity

B3/ Activities, Programs And Other Uses Of Time

Address Of Real And Urgent Client Need

Intense And Efficient Use Of Time

Provision/Promotion Of Enhancing Personal Possessions

Issues of SRV Implementation That Are Particularly Complex

OUT OF PLACE

1/ Squeezing optimal role value from functions

2/ Optimising roles that are complementary without doing harm (winners and losers)

3/ Not rejecting valued roles because they are not more valued (aspire to he best, but don’t reject if not the best)

4/ Keeping all role communicators in mind (six major channels)

5/ Being aware of setting issues especially

6/ Maximising social imagery and personal competency simultaneously

7/ Considering the bearer of a role-related message (prestigious)

Some Of The Complex Interactions Between Settings And People Relevant To SRV

1/ The interaction between the nature of a setting and the perceived characteristics of the people in it,

will determine observers’ judgements about those people.

2/ The value attached to a setting influences what people will expect of those they encounter in the

setting

3/ There may be very low tolerance for deviant behaviours and deviant people in certain settings

4/ In some settings, it is expected that the people encountered therein will fill a very wide range of

social roles

Positive Roles Now As A Protection Against Future Devaluation

· Having valued roles now is a good investment to put against future possible devaluation, This is particularly important for people as they age and become vulnerable to devaluation in later life.

Requirements For Role-Valorising Measures To Be Either Effective Or Maximised

1/ Relevance, i.e. precise matching of type and nature of a measure to the needs or problems of a person

A/ Each person’s major problems, needs, and needs hierarchy are correctly

identified and addressed

B/ Wherever a measure tries to address the problems or needs of more

than one person, relevance focus for each person is preserved.

2/ Potency, i.e. the measure capitalises on strategies likely to make address of a person’s needs or problems effective

A/ The most effective strategies for addressing a person’s needs or

problems are employed

B/ A person’s time is used with intensity and efficiency

What Does SRV Strive To Do?

· SRV seeks to:

· Create, support and defend valued social status for persons at risk

· Improve people’s situations and living conditions.

· Develop individuals’ experiences and competencies.

· Present people who use services in positive ways.

· Minimise differences between persons at risk and valued citizens.

· Essentially it tries to:

· Change societal perceptions of people-at-risk

· To help persons-at-risk to live life to the full

How Does SRV Seek To Do This?

· It requires:

· Finding out what is valued locally- asking what valued people aspire to or wish for; deciding which are the most valued options.

· Designing support services that enable:

· People-at-risk to be offered: locally valued, high standard, challenging options, valued by the majority of valued citizens.

· Further, People-at-risk deserve to not be damaged by the services offered.

· These concepts lie behind SRV which argues that the way we serve people-at-risk, may put them at further risk.

What Is The Main Agenda In SRV?

· Primarily it is to do with the role that people-at-risk are cast into and the consequences of being in that (most often) devalued role, and how to remove people from these roles.

Six Broad Facts That Give Guidance For Social Role Valorisation

1/ In order to establish for people social roles that are valued by others, one or

both of the following must be done:

A: Mould roles so that they are seen as positive in light of the values held

by observers

B: Mould the values held by others so as to value- or to not devalue-

characteristics and roles that people have already, or might have.

2/ The means used for either of the above are more likely to succeed if they (the

means) themselves are already positively valued by all the involved parties.

3/ The most promising role-valorisation strategies are:

A: Enhancing the competencies required to fill valued roles

B: Enhancing the social image of people at value risk

4/ The more a party is at value jeopardy,

A: The more of section 3 will be needed

B: The more crucial can be the contribution of SRV

5/ There are SRV implications on all levels of social organisation.

6/ WHERE IS NUMBER SIX?

One Way Of Conceptualising Social Role Valorisation

First-Order Goal: THE GOOD THINGS IN LIFE

Second-Order Goal: SOCIAL ROLE DEFENCE AND ENHANCEMENT

Third-Order Goal: ENHANCEMENT OF SOCIAL IMAGE OF PERSON OR

GROUP.

ENHANCEMENT OF COMPETENCIES OF PERSONS AT RISK

Major Avenues Of Social Role Valorisation

Enabling New Socially Valued Roles

· or at least less devalued ones for:

A Individuals

B Classes

Enhancing The Perceived Value Of Social Role(s) Already Held

· Defending, shoring up, and enlarging whatever valued roles or role elements a party may possess

Social Value Surrender By Valued Parties

· This means that if there is competition for roles, valued people should try to ensure that people-at-risk take over as many parts or wholes of socially valued roles as possible.

· For instance, if a person-at-risk is accompanied by a helper and is going to a restaurant, it would be useful for that person to be seen as the prime mover- that they book the table in their own name and on arrival at the restaurant they make their needs known to the waiter and order the food on behalf of themselves and the helper; they should be offered the wine for approval, and the bill should be accepted and paid by the person-at-risk.

Using The Four Filter Model To Valorise A Person

· Remember the four filters used earlier in analysing social situations. This can be used to valorise a person-at-risk.

· For instance, to use SRV to reverse the negative image of a person with a mental health problem called schizophrenia, you could-

· Filter 1 (Personality)- attempt to change the views of family, friends, carers, the public by education and support

· Filter 2 (Physical Environment)- attempt to assist the person to live in a valued house in a valued area and to attend work in a work-like building, and to take leisure in valued places, and gain education in adult centred valued educational facilities.

· Filter3 (Social Environment)- attempt to assist the person to mix with valued or normal groups of people at home, in work, at leisure or for education.

· Filter 4 (Factual Matters Observed)- attempt to assist the person to present themselves in a normal or valued manner, assist the person to control the overt expression of symptoms which would label the person as deviant, assist the person in minimising side-effects of medication.

· By doing some or all of the above, we are minimising the damage likely to occur to the person in interactions with the public, and maximising the possibility for the person to have experiences that will encourage more intense and more frequent positive experiences to compensate for the negative experiences previously imposed.

Ways In Which Persons With Physical Or Mental Impairments Have Been Able To Retain Or Attain Valued Identity

1/ Persons with a certain impairment were placed by society into certain valued

roles considered particularly suitable for persons with that impairment

2/ A person who was impaired was able to select, and gain the requirements for a

positive role

3/ The person became impaired after having held high status and filled valued roles (e.g. Steven Hawking)

4/ The impairment was not devalued in the reference group at issue (e.g. fencing scar amongst Prussian officers)

Four Circumstances Under Which Potentially Devalued Conditions Of Persons May Become Valued Or Even Emulated

1/ An afflicted person fills a very highly valued social role and others seek to increase their status by acquiring the affliction (When the King stutters, Louis XIV high heels, Charles II ???)

2/ The affliction produces an appearance that is/has become highly culturally valued (e.g. stretching the neck, Africa, foot-binding, China, silicone breast implants, USA, ear piercing); if the affliction is removed or absent, it may devalorise the person so un-afflicted (goose necks in Switzerland)

3/ An affliction is perceived as the manifestation of a valued mental, moral, or spiritual condition or state. (Melancholy- the mental state of the deep thinker, TB- romanticised consumption) ??Anorexic/drugs wasted look

4/ The affliction is so common that it is taken for granted (goitre in Switzerland, Spain. Wearing glasses, sometimes to look businesslike.)

· (It’s not the impairment that leads to devaluation, but the attitude of the general culture toward it. The luck of the draw- what values prevail in the culture at the time you are born.)

Social Role Valorisation Strategies

Level of Social Organisation Primarily to Enhance Social Image Primarily to Enhance Personal Competence

Individual Person Arranging physical and social conditions for a specific individual to be likely to enhance positive perceptions of that individual by others Arranging physical and social conditions for a specific individual to be likely to enhance the competence of that individual

Primary Social Systems Arranging physical and social conditions in a primary social system to be likely to enhance the positive perceptions of that individual via this system Arranging physical and social conditions in a primary social system to be likely to enhance that persons competence in it

Intermediate Systems/ Secondary Social Systems Arranging physical and social conditions in secondary social systems to be likely to enhance the positive perceptions of that individual via these systems Arranging physical and social conditions in secondary social systems to be likely to enhance that person’s competence in them

Entire Society of the Person, Group or Class Arranging physical and social conditions throughout society to be likely to enhance the positive perceptions of that individual through the whole of society Arranging physical and social conditions throughout society to be likely to enhance that persons competence in it

Additional Information On The Process Of Social Role Valorisation

· There is further coverage of SRV strategies after the Ten Recurrent Themes have been presented.

Defending Valued Roles

· When people are devalued it is important to assess which valued roles they have been able to retain and to defend these against further attack.

· For instance if the person being devalued is retired, it might be useful to reinforce the vocational role possessed before retirement and to ensure that the full amount of respect and value due to that role is maintained in retirement.

· Another example would be to reinforce that the ‘schizophrenic’ in your care is also a competent mother, valued partner, good worker etc., especially when in remission or given good symptom relief.

· Mental Illness labels (and Labels may become Roles) are not only ‘sticky (once applied they are difficult to remove), but also tend to be life-defining (taking control over and destroying any valued roles held.)

Maintaining Valued Roles

· Effort must to be made towards assisting people to maintain valued roles if they are in danger of losing them.

· For instance, a person with Alzheimer’s Disease is at particular risk of loosing competencies and images that allow role fulfilment. Extra effort should be put into maintaining any current valued roles.

· People with progressively deteriorating mental illnesses (schizophrenia, schizo-affective disorder) will require assistance with maintaining any valued roles that they have, especially whilst they are in relapse.

Acquiring Valued Roles

· Another strategy would be to assist people who are not currently in a valued role to enter that role.

· For instance, a person with youth-onset schizophrenia could be assisted to acquire valued roles such as flat-mate, worker, friend etc. instead of the unvalued roles of ‘waster’, ‘hospital patient’, ‘burden’, ‘menace’.

· This acquisition of valued roles will of course require competence enhancement and image management.

Re-Valorising Roles

· SRV maintains that a good way of rescuing people from the bad things that society does to them is to change the way that society ‘sees’ them by re-valorising their negative or neutral roles so that they become seen as positive roles..

· In this way, roles that are not currently valued, or not recognised as having potential value may be focused so that they gain public approval and become valued roles.

· For instance, a person with autism may have excellent musical or artistic or numerical skills. These could be seen as just side issues to their autism, but if sufficient effort is made, these roles could be re-valorised to become useful tools to help integrate the person into a group and to protect them from harm. However, care must be taken to ensure that such a person is not encouraged into the role of ‘freak’ by this effort. Interpretation must be positive.

Image And Competence Management

· It is important that people with responsibility for helping people who are devalued attempt to improve the image and competence of such people to enable more valued roles or to maintain current valued roles.

· This Image and Competence management should form part of any plan of care, the goal being the defence, maintenance or acquisition of valued roles.

Role Management

· Specific suggestions for this are:

· If people have valued roles, enhance, enlarge and protect them.

· Avoid entry into any additional devalued roles.

· Examine and support entry into new valued roles.

· Remove people from devalued roles.

· Reduce the signs of negativity from devalued roles.

· If a person is forced into a continuum of devalued roles and it is impossible to avoid this, try to choose the least devalued option.

· If you are sharing social space with a devalued person, be ready to surrender valued roles you have to that person wherever possible.

Action At Different Levels

· SRV requires that if you believe that people should not be devalued and harmed, then actions should to be made to rescue people from severe negative effects of social devaluation.

· SRV is often criticised for making this effort only at a personal level: ‘trying to make the person fit into society. This is in fact not the case, and SRV insists that efforts should be made at all levels to ensure that people at risk of devaluation are better treated.

· However, SRV does maintain that the higher up the socio-political ladder you travel, the harder change becomes. It may in fact be better for the person to be assisted to fit into an acceptable role rather than to make futile efforts to change society. This does not mean that such efforts should not be attempted, but if your main goal is to improve the life outcome of a person, efforts at more personal levels may be more effective.

· SRV suggests that there are four identifiable levels of intervention:

1. The Individual Person

2. The Immediate Social System around that person (family, friends, colleagues, workers in institutions etc.)

3. The Intermediate Social System that the person interacts with (people in shops, banks, organisations etc. plus those institutions themselves.)

4. The Larger Society- the socio-political-economic structures of society.

· SRV maintains that intervention at all these levels is important, but assessment must be made of which level is the most important for the individual.

· Action at each level may be made to affect both image and competence at that level to promote entry into and maintenance of valued roles.

‘Just Like Me’

· Encourage any image, competence or role that will make it more likely that ordinary members of society will see the person as ‘Just Like Me’. As noted above, the more like a person one is, the more protective one is of them. The more roles that are shared, the more competent a person is, and the closer that person is in image to you, the more you will identify with them.

· A example of this is an experience that I had at the height of the expulsion of Kosovar refugees from Kosovo. Initially I suppose I had thought of them as poor peasants, barely European and with no real contact with my life at all except through what I read in the newspapers. Then I heard that much of the information about what was happening was being relayed through mobile telephones owned by the refugees; suddenly they became ‘more like me.

· The level of concern displayed by people about news events is moderated by the similarity with the people watching or reading the news. There is research to show that similarity/disimilarity in the following categories will increase or decrease the concern shown about a story:

Ethnicity

Culture

Shared Language

Gender

Geographical Distance

Class

Interests

Special Groups (Children, the elderly etc.)

etc.

· So for instance, a storm that kills 100 people will be major news if it occurs in Europe vs. Africa (Geographical Distance), USA vs. Mexico (Ethnicity and Language), even USA vs. Italy, but Australia vs. USA (Culture).

· For instance a traffic accident that kills 5 people will be major news if it involves children vs. adults etc.