PSYC – 3007

Influence and Persuasion

In our busy world of constant communication, where we are bombarded by information and messages and needs, how do you cut through that noise to get people’s attention? How do you influence people to watch and listen to what you have to say, even if the topic is not one they have thought about before? How do you persuade them to take the action you request? That is your challenge and goal for this Discussion.

The issue is healthcare in rural areas of the United States. Your first task will be to educate yourself on the needs of people in these areas. If you live in an urban area, you may not be aware of the degree to which place informs resources available and access to those resources. Being poor and underserved in a rural area increases the needs of these residents. Consider this finding from the 2010 National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports: “Despite improvements, differences persist in health care quality among racial and ethnic minority groups. People in low-income families also experience poorer quality care.” (AHRQ, 2014, para.1)

Put on your advocacy hat, and remember the Walden University outcome to facilitate positive social change. The media message that you develop could impact services in a rural county where you live or in your state, now or in the future.

For this Discussion you will respond to the following scenario:

Imagine that you are an employee in the Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) of your county. Your department is launching a campaign to increase quality services to the underserved in your community. You are tasked with developing a media message that HHSA will disseminate to the public, with the goal of persuading people to donate money for a mobile screening bus that can travel to rural areas of the county and reach underserved individuals and families.

To prepare:

• Review the Week 6 Learning Resources. In particular, review the article “Behind Advertising: The Language of Persuasion” for specific principles and strategies to use in developing your media message.
• Consider the wording of the media message to include in your Discussion.
• Consider the ethics of your message and how it adheres to the code of ethics for human services professionals or other codes of ethics of particular interest to you, and to ethical guidelines for advertising.

By Day 3

Post responses to the following:

• Present the text of your media message.
• Explain the principles and strategies you used to develop the message, and your reasoning.
• Justify how your media message is ethical by referencing specific codes of ethics and other resources.

Note: Be sure to support the responses within your initial Discussion post (and in your colleague reply) with information obtained from the assigned Learning Resources, including in-text citations and a reference list for sources used. For information regarding how your Discussion will be evaluated, please review the Rubric, located in the Course Information area of the course.

References for paper

Perloff, R. M. (2017). The dynamics of persuasion: Communication and attitudes in the 21st century (6th ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.

• Chapter 13, “Advertising, Marketing, and Persuasion”
• Chapter 14, “Health Communication Campaigns”

These chapters, of your text, cover the focus for the week. Complete the reading to prepare for your Discussion posts.

http://www.aessweb.com/pdf-files/ijass-3(4)-951-959.pdf

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Christopher_Carpenter/publication/230584128_The_Legitimization_of_Paltry_Favors_Effect_A_Review_and_Meta-Analysis/links/0fcfd501aa39164b40000000/The-Legitimization-of-Paltry-Favors-Effect-A-Review-and-Meta-Analysis.pdf

http://archive.ahrq.gov/research/findings/nhqrdr/nhqrdr10/minority.html

https://www.rjionline.org/institute-for-advertising-ethics

PPT presentation

At several points along the flowchart of the criminal justice system professionals are required to make judgments as to the likelihood an individual will commit a criminal act or another criminal act. For instance:

Pre-trial release – Is the person who has merely been accused of a crime such a danger to the community that they must remain confined while awaiting trial?

Post-Conviction sentencing – Is this person a viable candidate for supervision under probation or is they likely to commit another criminal act?

Correctional classification – What institutional environment (level of confinement, program availability, etc.) is most appropriate for this individual for their safety as well as that of staff and other inmates?

Release to community-based supervision (e.g., parole) – In light of the changes that have occurred since incarceration, is this individual suitable to complete their sentence under community-based supervision?

To assist in this determination, risk assessment instruments have been developed which, usually in combination with a clinical interview, will provide some measurable predictability of future criminal/violent behavior. Decisions about offender risk and potential for future recidivism are critical and can have dire consequences, including releasing offenders who are a serious threat to public safety, careers being tarnished or coming to an abrupt end as a result of negligence lawsuits, or imposing severe sanctions on offenders inaccurately identified as high risks for violence. So, do they work?

The student will prepare a PowerPoint presentation as follows:

1. Conduct research on the topic of criminal/violent risk assessment. Use the UMUC on-line library resources or other professional journals.

2. Identify two risk assessment instruments to compare and contrast.

3. Develop a PPT slide presentation which includes the following:

a. A brief summary of both risk assessments (for which population of offenders is the assessment most often used?)

b. Details on the validity and reliability of each risk assessment

c. The method, evidence and/or evaluation used in support of the risk assessment (i.e. identify a recent study and outline the findings)

d. A comparison of each risk assessment, as well as contrasting the two

e. A conclusion

Format:

1. A minimum of 15 slides, not including title and references slides.

2. The title slide should include the name and number of the course, the name of the student, title of the project and the date of submission.

3. Resources, including course materials, must be cited both in the narrative/slides where appropriate and on a separate references page, using APA citation rules.