Strain

Strain refers to the feelings of some publics that a gap exists between what they perceive exists and what they believe should exist. Awareness of such conditions can lead people to believe that problems exist. Robert L. Heath wrote in 1997, that the birth of an issue begins when an individual or group experiences strain. Strain is necessary for an individual or group to recognize an issue and become committed to taking a position on it and resolving it.

Strain was introduced into discussions of social movement and activism in 1963 by sociologist Neil Smelser to explain the motives that give individuals the incentive to engage in that kind of collective behavior. If, for instance, people recognize that conditions of homelessness and joblessness exist and believe that they should not, they are experiencing strain. Heath (1997) called strain “a product of problem recognition and outrage” (p. 169). Strain is likely to be part of a larger sense of engagement by activists against some organization. In 1997, Heath included strain as the first of five stages that describe the process of activism: strain (problem recognition), mobilization, confrontation, negotiation, and resolution.

As also discussed by James E. Grunig and Todd Hunt in 1984 as part of the situational theory of publics, strain can be viewed as problem recognition. Heath wrote, “[Any] given day, hundreds of people— a potential constituent audience of public—feel discomfort about various aspects of their lives” (1997, p. 165). Examples of such problems may be loss of a job, home foreclosure, loss of health care benefits, product defects, sexual harassment, chronic illness caused by toxic chemicals, or corporate accounting scandals. Awareness of such conditions may be communicated via the traditional mass media, social media and, of course, by word of mouth.

Interest in concepts such as strain increased during the 1960s in the United States, when social movements were pressing for change in every aspect of American life. That pressure led scholars and public relations practitioners to think more deeply about the dynamics that lead individuals to take collective action. These new forces against industrial and corporate autonomy led to the formation of issues management.

For public relations practitioners, awareness of activist organizations and the issues they address is necessary. A history of corporate and organization activity in the United States is sufficient to remind us that corporations have often suffered severe financial losses and challenges to their legitimacy when their boards were not responsive to or aware of the needs of stakeholder publics. For example, consider the activities of Sea Shepherd, the international conservation society whose mission is to end [Page 882]the destruction of habitat and slaughter of wildlife in the world's oceans in order to conserve and protect ecosystems and species. Founded in 1977 by Canadian Paul Watson, the group has gained more international exposure recently since Animal Planet began taping programs in 2008 about the organization's battle with Japanese whalers. Sea Shepherd's activities are far from pacifist and include disabling whaling vehicles at harbor, shining laser lights into the eyes of whalers, and destroying drift nets at sea. Watson said he became involved after three countries, including Japan, continued to hunt whales even after the International Whaling Commission issued a moratorium on commercial whaling.

...