SilenceA B C D E F G H IJKL M N O P R S T U VXYZWdetermines meaning. Th us meaning is an active
force, subject to constant change, the result of
dynamic interaction. See semiology/semiot-
ics.
Signifi cation spiral Stuart Hall and co-authors
in Policing the Crisis: Mugging, Th e State and
Law & Order (Macmillan, 1978) use this term
for the process by which discrete, local problems
and occurrences are linked by the media into a
framework of news coverage in such a way as
to suggest the existence of a more widespread
and serious social problem. They argue that,
for example, during the 1970s there emerged a
signifi cation spiral in which problems previously
presented as atypical or parochial – such as
student protests, industrial unrest, and mugging- were presented by the media as part of a wider
concern: the breakdown in law and order.
Th e term has been widely used since. In Moral
Panics (Routledge, 1998) Kenneth Thompson
notes that a signification spiral – ‘a way of
publicly signifying issues and problems which
is intrinsically escalating’ – by the media plays
a crucial role in the generation of a moral panic.
Panics over the breakdown of law and order
are perhaps perennial. Another contemporary
panic is arguably that focused on the eff ects of
migration and immigration, and links are being
made in some areas of the media with issues
such as unemployment and social cohesion. See
demonization; folk devils; moral entre-
preneurs; moral panics and the media;
sensitization.
Significs Enquiry into questions of meaning,
expression and interpretation, and the infl uence
of language upon thought.
Silence In certain circumstances, silence is as
eff ective a means of communication as speech.
In The Dynamics of Human Communication
(McGraw-Hill, 1985), Gail and Michele Myers
state: ‘Silences ... are not to be equated with the
absence of communication. Silences are a natu-
ral and fundamental aspect of communication,
often ignored because misunderstood.’ Silences
are used to give meaning to verbal communi-
cation but can also communicate a range of
information in their own right, such as feelings
of anger, a state of mourning or preoccupation
with one’s own thoughts. Th ere are many kinds
of silence and we often need other non-verbal
or verbal cues to help us identify what is meant
when someone is silent.
Being aware of the range of meanings that
silence may convey, and the ability to accurately
interpret them and react sensitively to them, is
an important communicative skill, as in the abil-
topic guide under language/discourse/
narrative.
Signal Th e physical manifestation of a message
which allows it to be conveyed. See shannon
and weaver’s model of communication,
1949.
Signifi cant others Th e analysis of the eff ects
of a media message, of its impact, relies on the
response not only of the direct respondent,
but also of those persons close to, infl uential
upon, the respondent – relatives, friends, work
colleagues. Th ese are ‘signifi cant others’. In the
case of a child watching TV commercials, his/
her response may be conditioned and modifi ed
by parents, brothers and sisters, and friends.
See intervening variables (ivs); opinion
leader; other.
Signifi cant symbolizers G.H. Mead in Mind,
Self and Society (University of Chicago Press,
1934) uses this term to indicate how the social
organization of a society, human or animal,
needs the support of reliable, regular and
predictable patterns or signs if it is not to be
destroyed by accumulating discrepancy and
misinformation. The symbol or symbolizer,
whether vocal sound, gesture or sign, achieves
meaningful defi nition only when it has the ‘same
eff ect on the individual making it as on the indi-
vidual to whom it is addressed’. Th us, according
to Mead, a person defi nes him/herself by ‘talking
to himself in terms of the community to which
he belongs’. Th rough contact with ‘signifi cant’
(meaningful) objects of the social world, a
person develops a coherent view of him/herself
and of his/her relations with others. See inter-
personal communication; intrapersonal
communication.
Signifi cation One of the most valuable contri-
butions made by Swiss linguist Ferdinand de
Saussure (1857–1913) to the study of language
was his idea of diff erentiating between the name,
the naming and the meaning of what has been
named. Th is process enabled the linguist more
eff ectively to examine the structural elements of
communication. Saussure contrasted the signifi -
cant (or signifi er) with signifi é (or that which is
signifi ed).
Th e relationship between these, the physical
existence of the sign, and the mental concept
it represents, becomes signifi cation which, for
Saussure, is the manifestation of external reality
or meaning. Signifi cation, it is important to real-
ize, is culture-specifi c, as is the linguistic form
of the signifi er in each language. Saussure terms
the relationship of signs to others in the sign
system, valeur, and it is valeur that primarily