This volume is a collection of papers analytically embedded in Conversation Analysis combined with discursive psychology’s perspective on mind, cognition and personality. The papers analyze actual records of people’s conduct in natural situations, such as therapy sessions or phone calls. Both the analytic approach and the use of the naturalistic data make the book an interesting contribution to the study of human conduct in complex situations.
The papers fall into three parts: “Psychology in action” (I), “Professionals and clients” (II), and “Youth and institutions” (III). These are followed by a concluding chapter on applications and implications of discursive research. The chapters in the first part address some classic themes in psychological research, such as dispositions (chapter 2, by Derek Edwards), emotions (3, by Pirjo Nikander), consciousness (4, by Simon Allistone & Robin Wooffitt), apologizing (5, by Martha Augoustinos, Amanda LeCouteur & Katherine Fogarty), and perception, opinion, belief and attitude (6, by Jonathan Potter & Claudia Puchta). However, instead of considering them as manifestations of inner mental states, the authors take an action-oriented approach, focusing on their usage in different interactions. For example, Nikander explores how the usage of emotion categories influences decision-making about the future lives of elderly people by social and healthcare professionals.
The second part of the book focuses on clinical interactions in different therapeutic and diagnostic contexts. There are papers on patients’ discursive practices of presenting serious health problems as possible explanations for their medical complaints (7, by Anita Pomerantz, Virginia Teas Gill & Paul Denvir), the rhetorical employment of cognitive distortion in therapy for sex offenders (8, by Clare MacMartin & Curtis D. LeBaron), therapists’ formulations of their clients’ talk (9, by Charles Antaki, Rebecca Barnes & Ivan Leudar) and hypothetical questions during diagnosis of the appropriateness of sex reassignment surgery for transsexual patients (10, by Susan Speer & Ceri Parsons). As the papers explore the actual practices of presenting patients’ and professionals’ concerns and orientations, they bring scientists and practitioners closer to the “mystery” of clinical encounters.
The last part of the book is devoted to papers concerning negotiations of the competences of young people in various institutional contexts. The chapters discuss peer assessment in Swedish school (11, by Jakob Cromdal, Michael Tholander, & Karin Aronsson), linguistic appropriateness in therapy of children with autism disorder (12, by Alessandra Fasulo & Francesca Fiore), discursive practices in the formulation of possible problems in the return of student-mothers to school (13, by Richard Buttny & Sandra Kellogg Rath), and negotiations of eating practices between children and adults (14, by Sally Wiggins & Alexa Hepburn). Researchers, teachers, or students interested in discursive research will find this volume very useful, as it is informatively rich and methodologically rigorous.
