| The Camp Counselor's Guide to Interpersonal Communication is a guide for camp counselors regarding the importance of interpersonal communication in their work with campers and other camp staff. It has broad application across the many types of camps operating in the United States and abroad. The book is divided into four primary sections with a total of 15 chapters. The first section describes Foundations of Interpersonal Communication. This section includes three chapters: Communication Defined (explanations of communication processes and reasons why we communicate), Elements of Interpersonal Communication (source/receiver, competence, message, channel, noise and context), and Perception (stages of perception, rationalization, attribution, stereotyping and confusion between fact and inference). The second section addresses verbal and nonverbal components that structure interpersonal communication. It includes five chapters: Language (denotative and connotative meanings and sublanguage), Listening (reasons for listening, active listening, listening distractions, and levels of listener feedback), Verbal Interaction (levels of conversational relationships, phatic communication, and the importance of communicative environment), Nonverbal Communication: Environmental Factors (proxemics, objectics, and chronemics), and Nonverbal Communication: Personal Factors (vocalics, kinesics, facial communication, eye behavior, tactile communication, physical characteristics, silence, and metacommunication). The third section analyzes interpersonal communication processes. It includes four chapters: Intrapersonal Communication Processes, Relational Deterioration, Interpersonal Communication Scripts (cultural scripts, family scripts, individual scripts, and guidelines for working with impersonal relationships), and Cross-Cultural Communication (dynamics of and resulting ramifications). The fourth section presents variables affecting interpersonal communication. This discussion includes three chapters: Power, Conflict, and Ethics. |
