Institutional Framing

Frames are the cognitive categories or schema people use to describe, interpret, and sort events, issues, and entities for themselves and others to understand and predict their environment. Institutions can be described as a set of societal rules or expectations that govern interactions and/or as organizations created to achieve [Page 1138]a specific, collective purpose. The concept of institutional frames considers both descriptions. Institutional frames provide one a context for understanding the complex interrelationships among organizations and their policies, processes, products and services, and relationships with stakeholders.

Numerous social science disciplines including communications, economics, psychology, social psychology, political science, and organization studies use the concept of frames to explain a multiplicity of phenomena. Scientific inquiries have focused on the nature of frames and how frames influence a ...