Pino (2021) Challenging generalisations.pdf (521.27 kB)
Challenging generalisations: Leveraging the power of individuality in support group interactions
Explicit generalisations are statements that attribute a characteristic to all
members of a social category (e.g., drug users). This paper examines the tensions
and negotiations that the use of generalisations prompts within support group
interactions. Generalisations are practices for the cautious implementation of
delicate actions. They can be used to convey perspectives on group members’
experiences by implication (without commenting on them directly), by virtue of
those members belonging to the category to which a generalisation applies. At
the same time, generalisations can misrepresent some individual cases within that
category. Using conversation analysis, the paper investigates how generalisations
are deployed, challenged, and then defended in support group interactions. These
analyses identify a tension between utilising the sense-making resources that
category memberships afford, and the protection of its members from unwelcome
generalisations. Data consist of recorded support-group meetings for people
recovering from drug addiction (in Italy) and for bereaved people (in the UK).
Funding
Work on the TC data was funded by the People Programme (Marie Curie Actions) of the European’s Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7=2007-2013) under REA grant agreement no 626893.
History
School
- Social Sciences and Humanities
Department
- Communication and Media
Published in
Language in SocietyVolume
50Issue
5Pages
695-722Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)Version
- AM (Accepted Manuscript)
Rights holder
© The AuthorPublisher statement
This article has been published in a revised form in Language in Society https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047404520000603. This version is published under a Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-ND. No commercial re-distribution or re-use allowed. Derivative works cannot be distributed. © The Author.Acceptance date
2020-02-29Publication date
2020-07-24Copyright date
2020ISSN
0047-4045eISSN
1469-8013Publisher version
Language
- en