ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that group communication scholarship has insufficiently addressed security-related concerns. Group communication theory has not kept pace with the proliferation of team-based work, particularly in the context of national security. The deficiency is in part due to the imperative of secrecy, leading security groups to protect their operations from broader scrutiny. This chapter expands conceptions of security for group communication scholars encouraging application of theory on groups that operate more transparently and on larger societal security issues. Two case studies are explored using Embedded Systems Theory (EST), a broad theoretical framework, for its relevance and flexibility in explaining different security domains. The cases represent a conventionally prosocial group, an environmental management discussion group, and a conventionally antisocial group, a domestic terrorist group. The environmental discussion case study explores the Our Coastal Future Forum, in which a deliberative framework was applied to help residents consider solutions to problems created by rising sea levels and increased storm severity. The domestic terrorist case study explores the Garden City (Kansas) Plot, in which three men plus an FBI informant attempted to take violent action against local immigrants. We apply the lens of EST to examine how the political climate impacted the formation, organization, and actions of these very different groups. We briefly discuss some of the practical and ethical concerns present when helping organize or evaluate group communication within the security context.
