Inside Relationships: A Creative Casebook in Relational Communication

by Sandra L. Faulkner (Editor)

This book of original case studies allows students in interpersonal and relational communication classes to engage with creative stories about lives and relationships, helping them understand how communication processes work. Written in literary format―essays, short stories, scripts, photographs, poetry―these 27 brief case studies by communication researchers allow students to see the workings of relationship management, friendship, disclosure, gender, family interaction, and other key topics in relational communication. Faulkner’s introduction to each section provides the basic pedagogical content to give context and meaning to the cases that follow. Questions for discussion, activities, and additional resources end each case to help guide the student.

296 pages, Hardcover

First published May 31, 2013

About the author

In my research, writing, and advocacy about close relationships and relational communication, I incorporate theory and research from a variety of interpersonal, sexuality, health, feminist, and culture literatures to interrogate sexuality and identity. I focus on the role of culture and relational processes in discussions and discourse about sexuality and stigmatized identities in interpersonal relationships using qualitative and critical research methods. I am interested in how relational processes and goals influence disclosure decisions about sexual information and potentially stigmatizing identities, how the negotiation of identities influences relational health, how larger discourses surrounding identity influence and shape our relational experiences, and how we narrate and re-narrate our experiences for personal and social change.