Understanding the Corruption Meaning among Malang City People in a Sociocultural Context: A Communicative Phenomenological Study using the Gadamer Approach

Abstract

This research was aimed to reveal the understanding of corruption by Malang City people as the conscious understanding from expressions or statements. These diverse meanings become an important subject matter for evaluation and composition of anti-corruption programs based on effective communication. This research methodology was interpretive phenomenology. The results showed various meanings for term “corruption”. It meant as: 1) taking something or rights that belong to others, that one was not rightfully entitled; 2) behaviors that were encouraged by impulses of personal wishes or desires due to greed, conducted by actors that lack sincerity in what they do as well as good character; 3) taking away public rights for private interests; 4) obtaining personal gains by utilizing existing authority to detriment of others; 5) behaviors usually conducted by political elite; 6) same as theft or stealing but conducted by a perpetrator or the groups. These understandings of corruption among the people were understood through three fundamental questions in revealing the understanding of corruption by people. The fundamental questions involved how corruption occurs, what were the motives of corruption, and who were the corruption actors. Researchers concluded that understanding of corruption among the people was very diverse because it was determined by conscious understanding of each individual; the reveal of these meanings of corruption would make it easier to place them within educative measures for people by related instances, unifying equal meanings in an anti-corruption program based on effective communication referring to normative standards.

Keywords: Corruption, Culture, Meaning, Gadamer.