To See Every Life Valued

To See Every Life ValuedEthnography of YourChoices By Becky SmithMarch 15, 2016

Good Evening,

My name is Becky and Im going to talk about the Ethnographic study I did on the organizational culture of Your Choice Medical Clinic. 1

Background1984: Hotline 1989: Free Pregnancy Tests2002: High School Education2011:Free Ultrasounds & STD testing2012: Expanded2014:Maternity Home

In 1984 YourChoices Pregnancy Center started as crisis pregnancy hotline.

Quickly, the ministry began to grow and expanded to offer free pregnancy tests and support services to women, men and families in the community.

In 2002, YourChoices began presenting on sexual education in local high schools.

In 2011, YourChoices grew again and opened a medical clinic. Your Choice Medical clinic, could now offerd a free ultrasound to women facing unplanned pregnancies.

In 2012-13, Your Choice Medical Clinic expanded again and opened 2 more clinics in surrounding counties (one in the middle of a college campus). In addition they began adding free STD testing for men and women at all of their clinics.

In 2014, YourChoices cast the vision and is currently pursing funding to open a Maternity Home to serve the needs of women facing unplanned pregnancies n the regional communities.

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Complex CulturesInterview 1: F. T.Interview 2:R. C.The Focus Group:Branch Clinic (Schein, 2009)

Culture is complex and with multiple layers. In order to unpac some of the deeper tacit and illcit cultural assumptions of YourChoices, I had to go onsite. I spent about 4 hours doing field research on two interviews and one focus group.

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Complex CulturesRapport10 Commandments of InterviewingDramatagurial Role(Berg & Lune, 2012)

For my interviews, I tried to connecting with my subjects by establishing rapport. It is important to build a sense of trust and ease with your subjects so they are comfortable sharing information with you.

I also followed the 10 commandments of interviewing which include points like keep the subject on track, demonstrate active listening, and probe if you are getting yes/no answers.

and assumed a dramatagurial role by using intuition to formulate my next question while maintaining intentional control over the interview.

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Potential BiasMy Role on the Board of Directors

Life Affirming Perspective

I would be remiss if I did not openly and honestly address and potential bias influencing my study. This is my second year on the Board of Directors of YourChoices. And while, the temptation might be here to shed the organization in the best light, the reality is, I specifically chose this organization to do my ethnographic study in the hopes it would help in making better informed strategic decsisions as it realtes to my role on the board. Any mispresentation of information would only hurt the organization in this regard.

Additionally, and this is sort of implied, but I do learn towards a more life-affirming perspective which, I know, is counter cultural, and so, may create bias. 5

Field to PaperFolk TermsTaxonomies & CodingCultural Themes

(McCurdy & Spradley, 2005)(Bryman, 2012)

After my site visits, I was able to discover certain explicit cultural categories from folk terms I identified in my interview notes. I then bagan coding these into similar categories or taxonomies. From these taxonomies I derived 5 specific organizationalcultural themes prevelant whting YourChoices. 6

Theme 1: MinistryCultural Ethos

I ring that bell and it triggers staff to get on their knees and pray

We each took a verse from the Bible and glued the rocks together as part of a healing ceremony for all the lives lostOf course when they come in, I feel like clients are so taken back by the level of love they receivePrayer is the foundation of everything we do, staff prays together every morning and throughout the dayUltimately our number one mission is to share the gospel and see Christ transform lives from inside out

Ruth Benedicts proclaims in her book, Patterns of Culture, that every culture has a centralized theme or ethos that is woven into all aspects of the organization's culture. At its core, LifeChoices is a ministry. It exits to advance the kingdom of God, by loving on, building relationships, and sharing the gospel with anyone that walks through the door. Prayer is woven into day to day operations at all clinics and through all divisions. This taxonomy feeds into all of the other organizational themes.

Folk terms such as prayer, love, and Gospel sharing were prevelant in both interviews as well as the focus group. Additionally, I discovered two very unique artificats at two different clinics. When I interviewed F. T. she had a ding bell on her desk. She said whenever she takes call, where the client indicates they are abortion minded she dings that bell and staff know to get ont heir knees and pray.

On my tour of the branch clinic where I did my focus group, I noticed a pile of rocks glued together with bible verses ont hem. When I asked what they were, I was told there were from a healing ceremony the staff had for all the lives lost. She told me it was quite moving and inspiring.

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Theme 2: Mission/Vision

We change their way of thinking, and give them a whole new outlook on life. That involves coming alongside and helping. Theres just so much more to be done than saving babies. People are complicated and lives are a mess and our cultures is just so opposite of who we are here.

The second cultural them I discovered at yourChoices is this organization believes in and practices its Mission. On all three site visits somebody was able to quote word for word the mission and vision statements. Additionally, they are incorporated in their website, facebook page, newsletter, and other marketing campaigns. This organization recognizes how complex individuals are and they are purpsfully trying to make a positive impact on peoples lives.

When I asked my focus group, why are you involved with this organization, I got responses from two different people saying, Ive always had a passion for the unborn but it went deeper than that, I heard phrases such as, we change their way of thinking and Theres so much more to be done than just saving babies.,a nd my personal favorite, If one person is impacted by our education training,t han weve done a good job8

Theme 3: Medical facility

Counseling room in one of the clinics

We saw her physically impacted by what she sawWhen the ultrasound revealed twins she simply could not go through with it

My third theme is Medical facility. The recent move to go medical has really revolionized their ministry. The addition of the ultrasound machine and the ability to do STD testing has opened up doors for them.

F. T. told the following story:

We had a very abortion determined client come in just this past week. She was impacted by seeing the heartbeat of her unborn child. We saw her physically impacted by what she saw.

At the focus group, a story was shared about girl that was adamant about having an aborition, but whenever the ultrasound revealed twins, she simply could not go through with it.

In addition the the ultrasound maching, the STD testing has opened up other avenues as well. The clinics are seeing male clients as well. And actually, at my focus group, the were excited to report they were in the process of starting their first male volunteer.9

Theme 4: Non Profit

Former Planned Parenthood Director, Abbey Johnson speaking at one of their banquets. Annual Walk for Life

My son gave his entire piggy bank

My forth theme is Non Profit organization. YourChoices operates soley on donationas and receives no money from the government to assist with expenses. Many people donate their time and services to the organization to help where needed. Additionally, staff focuses a lot on getting and keeping their donor base. There are countless opportunites to get involved with the organization. The have annual fund raising banquets, a Walk for Life, and a very successful baby bottle campaign where bottles are distributed to churches and family can take a bottle home and fill it with change. Last year, this simple fundraiser raised over $35,000 for the organization.

During my interview with R. C. I learned the Development department is an area they are trying to restructure and strenghthen now as it is critical to the sustainability of the organization. 10

Theme 5: Internal Conflicts

We are not Pro-Life organization. We are a medical clinic and we are here to help you make a choice

The final theme I discovered is categorized under Internal Conflicts. The first of these, is the organization deliberately avoids using the term Pro Life because of the negativity associated with that term. As F. T. said in my interview, If they think we are pro-life, they will never come here.

The organization sas very intentinal about name as well and how they presented themselves to the community. This however, posed a problem. At my focus group, I learned whenever they opened the new clinic , they were protested by local churches. Now some of them are their biggest supports.

The other internal conflict is regarding the purchase of a maternity home. Two years ago, YourChoices secured an offer on a bed and breakfast that was for sale with the understanding that the sellers would hold the home until the funds were raised to purchase it. YourChoices then cast the vision to its donors the plan to purchase and operate the home and has tried to get financial support. To date, they have failed to raise enough money to do so. While the sellers of the home are supporters of the organization and have been patient and cooperative with them during this period of waiting, you can sense an uncertainty perhaps even doubt within the organization on how to move forward with this vision. 11

Further Research

Whats the clinic on the college campus like?Can I talk to your clients?How is YourChoices similar and different than a Planned Parenthood facility?

If time permitted, I would have liked to do a site visit at the clinic that opened on the college campus to see its culture related to the other clinics. I also think it would have helped my study if I could have interviewd some actual clients and goth their perspective on the organization.

Finally, It would be a good idea to research a local Planned Parenthood facility and contrast how it operates compared to YourChoices.12

ReferencesBerg, B & Lune, H. (2012). Qualitative research methods for the socialBerg, B & Lune, H. (2012). Qualitative research methods for the social sciences (8th ed.). Boston: Pearson Education.

Benedict, R. (1989). Patterns of Culture. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. (First published in 1934).Bryman, A. 2010. 4 Stages of Qualtative Analysis. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_YXR9kp1_o&list=PL42F2696DD41FD2C6 McCurdy, D. W., Spradley, J. P. & Shandy, D. J. (2005). The cultural experience: Ethnography in complex society. Long Grove, IL: Waveland.

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Questions?Email: becky.smith@bc3.eduThank You!

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