Vuorottelujäsennys ryhmäterapiassa

• Mia Halonen

Avainsanat: keskusteluntutkimus, vuorottelujäsennys

Abstrakti

The organisation of turn-taking in group therapy (englanti)

3/1999 (103)

Mia Halonen ([e-mail])

THE ORGANISATION OF TURN-TAKING IN GROUP THERAPY

Taking turns to speak is the basis of any conversation. In the article the writer examines the organisation of turn-taking in one type of institutional speech environment: AA-based alcoholism group therapy known as myllyhoito (similar to Minnesota-model treatment or 12-step treatment). The rules observed for speaking during group therapy create a framework for the therapy session, with each patient being reserved the opportunity to speak without interruption about matters of their choice. The situation is thus one in which the patients have long successive turns. The turn-constructional unit in the therapy session consists of a long uninterrupted turn, the end of which is indicated by the speaker him/herself. The opportunity is thus provided for a change in turn, a transition relevance place (TRP).

When the changes of turn are examined in the material, it transpires, however, that the next speaker does not begin his/her turn directly if the previous turn is not functionally completed -- if a problem brought up is left unresolved. Turn-taking does not therefore progress automatically according to the rules but instead is negotiated locally; the participants are more inclined to use the opportunity created by the rules to engage in therapy than to comply with the rules as such. When compliance with the rules would conflict with the progress of the therapy, the participants tend to choose the latter. The rules of institutional speech are not created or followed for their own sake, but because they facilitate the matter at hand.

The article also considers turn-taking in general as a subject of research. As in the example of myllyhoito group therapy, research into turn-taking can enable the relationship between the institution and the rules regulating it to be examined: for example, how the rules of turn-taking create a structure within which the institution's tasks can be carried out. Rules of turn-taking would seem to be one element which can be used to establish a framework for desired situations. The length of turns in a given type of situation, for instance, is directly related to the pre-allocation of turns: the more precisely the turns are pre-allocated in advance, the longer are the turns that the situation will tolerate.