Crying as a child resource for renegotiating a ‘done deal’
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/rcsi.31060Keywords:
parent-child interaction; crying; emotion; conversation anlaysis, parent-child interaction, crying, emotion, conversationAbstract
Research on parent–child interaction has described how parents manage child compliance. Less attention has been paid to the resources leveraged by children in this tug-of-war. On the other hand, without any specific focus on children, scholars with an interest in discourse and emotion have begun systematic investigations of crying. Using the methodology of conversation analysis, we focus on a 5-minute crying episode from a video-recorded dinner event that involves a 3-year-old girl and her parents. In particular, we describe how crying is deftly deployed by the child to successfully renegotiate what has initially been pronounced a done deal.
References
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Wingard, L. (2006). Parents’ inquiries about homework: The first mention. Text and Talk, 26(4–5), 573–596. https://doi.org/10.1515/TEXT.2006.023
Wooton, A. (2012). Distress in adult–child interactions. In A. Peräkylä & M. Sorjonen (eds), Emotion in interaction (pp. 64–91). Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199730735.003.0003
Zeman, J. & Garber, J. (1996). Display rules for anger, sadness, and pain: It depends on who is watching. Child Development, 67(3), 957–973. https://doi.org/10.2307/1131873
Barr, R. G., Hopkins, B. & Green, J. A. (2000). Crying as a sign, a symptom, and a signal: Clinical, emotional and developmental aspects of infant and toddler crying. London: MacKeith Press.
Cekaite, A. (2015). The coordination of talk and touch in adults’ directives to children: Touch and social control. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 48(2), 152–175. https://doi.org/10.1080/08351813.2015.1025501
Cekaite, A. (2016). Touch as social control: Haptic organization of attention in adult–child interactions. Journal of Pragmatics, 92, 30–42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2015.11.003
Clemente, I. (2015). Uncertain Futures: Communication and Culture in Childhood Cancer Treatment. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118909775
Davidson, J. A. (1984). Subsequent versions of invitations, offers, requests, and proposals dealing with potential or actual rejection. In J. M. Atkinson & J. Heritage (eds), Structures of Social Action: Studies in Conversation Analysis (pp. 102–128). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Filipi, A. (2009). Toddler and parent interaction: The organisation of gaze, pointing and vocalisation. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.192
Goffman, E. (1981). Forms of talk. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press. Goodwin, M. H. (2006). Participation, affect, and trajectory in family directive/response sequences. Text and Talk, 26(4–5), 515–543. https://doi.org/10.1515/TEXT.2006.021
Goodwin, M. H. & Cekaite, A. (2013). Calibration in directive/response sequences in family interaction. Journal of Pragmatics, 46(1), 122–138. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2012.07.008
Gordon, C. (2008). A(p)parent play: Blending frames and reframing in family talk. Language in Society, 37(3), 319–349. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047404508080536
Hepburn, A. (2004). Crying: Notes on description, transcription, and interaction. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 37(3), 251–290. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327973rlsi3703_1
Hepburn, A. & Potter, J. (2007). Crying receipts: Time, empathy, and institutional practice. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 40(1), 89–116. https://doi.org/10.1080/08351810701331299
Hepburn, A. & Potter, J. (2011). Threats: Power, family mealtimes, and social influence. British Journal of Social Psychology, 50(1), 99–120. https://doi.org/10.1348/014466610X500791
Hepburn, A. & Potter, J. (2012). Crying and crying responses. In A. Peräkylä and M.-L. Sorjonen (eds), Emotion in interaction (pp. 194–210). Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199730735.003.0009
Jefferson, G. (1984). Notes on some orderlinesses of overlap onset. In V. D’Urso and P. Leonardi (eds), Discourse Analysis and Natural Rhetoric (pp. 11–38). Padua, Italy:
Cleup Editore. Jefferson, G. (2004). Glossary of transcript symbols with an Introduction. In G. H. Lerner (ed.), Conversation Analysis: Studies from the first generation (pp. 13–23). Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.125.02jef
Kendall, S. (2006). ‘Honey, I’m home!’: Framing in family dinnertime homecomings. Text and Talk, 26(4–5), 411–441. https://doi.org/10.1515/TEXT.2006.017
Kendon, A. (1990). Conducting interaction: Patterns of behavior in focused encounters (vol. 7). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Kidwell, M. (2005). Gaze as social control: How very young children differentiate ‘the look’ from a ‘mere look’ by their adult caregivers. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 38(4), 417–449. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327973rlsi3804_2
Kidwell, M. (2009). Gaze shift as an interactional resource for very young children. Discourse Processes, 46(2–3), 145–160. https://doi.org/10.1080/01638530902728926
Kidwell, M. & Zimmerman, D. (2006). ‘Observability’ in the interactions of very young children. Communication Monographs, 73(1), 1–28. https://doi.org/10.1080/03637750600559673
Lerner, G. H., Zimmerman, D. H. & Kidwell, M. (2011). Formal structures of practical tasks: A resource for action in the social life of very young children. In J. Streeck, C. Goodwin & C. LeBaron (eds), Embodied interaction: Language and body in the material world (pp. 44–58). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Manzo, J. F., Heath, R. L. & Blonder, L. X. (1998). The interpersonal management of crying among survivors of stroke. Sociological Spectrum, 18(2), 161–184. https://doi.org/10.1080/02732173.1998.9982191
Mehan, H. & Wood, H. (1975). The reality of ethnomethodology. New York: John Wiley.
Sacks, H., Schegloff, E. A. & Jefferson, G. (1974). A simplest systematics for the organization of turn-taking for conversation. Language, 50(4), 696–735. https://doi.org/10.1353/lan.1974.0010
Schegloff, E. A. (1987). Analyzing single episodes of interaction: An exercise in conversation analysis. Social Psychology Quarterly, 50(2), 101–114. https://doi.org/10.2307/2786745
Sorjonen, M.-L. & Peräkylä, A. (2012). Introduction. In A. Peräkylä and M.-L. Sorjonen (eds), Emotion in interaction (pp. 5–15). Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199730735.003.0001
Ten Have, P. (2004). Understanding qualitative research and ethnomethodology. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. https://doi.org/10.4135/9780857020192
Waring, H. Z. (2009). Moving out of IRF: A single case analysis. Language Learning, 59(4), 796–824. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9922.2009.00526.x
Waring, H. Z. & Hruska, B. (2011). Getting and keeping Nora on board: A novice elementary ESOL student teacher’s practices for lesson engagement. Linguistics and Education, 22, 441–455. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.linged.2011.02.009
Wingard, L. (2006). Parents’ inquiries about homework: The first mention. Text and Talk, 26(4–5), 573–596. https://doi.org/10.1515/TEXT.2006.023
Wooton, A. (2012). Distress in adult–child interactions. In A. Peräkylä & M. Sorjonen (eds), Emotion in interaction (pp. 64–91). Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199730735.003.0003
Zeman, J. & Garber, J. (1996). Display rules for anger, sadness, and pain: It depends on who is watching. Child Development, 67(3), 957–973. https://doi.org/10.2307/1131873
Published
2017-12-18
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Waring, H. Z., & Yu, D. (2017). Crying as a child resource for renegotiating a ‘done deal’. Research on Children and Social Interaction, 1(2), 115-140. https://doi.org/10.1558/rcsi.31060
