Contrasting strategies for supporting service users in carrying out a routine task

Background: When staff engage with service users who have a learning disability, much of the interaction is given over to requests, orders, and directives. In this article, we argue that the exact manner in which staff carry out instructions displays a notably distinct construction of the service user’s abilities and entitlements. Method: We analyze two examples using conversation analysis, the fine-grained inspection of spontaneous interaction. Results: In an episode from a supported residential setting, we see the care staff issue instructions which effectively treat the resident as unable to carry out a task independently (in spite of evidence to the contrary); while in a horticultural therapy setting, staff treat a service user faced with a similar task as being competent – but temporarily unwilling. Discussion and conclusion: These examples reveal, at the fine grain of conversational exchange, the practices used by staff to carry out the custodial requirements of residential care versus the objectives of engendering agency and self-confidence in a more therapeutic setting.