EXCLUSION ET DIALOGUE - Training professionals to better support the unemployed
Background
Social integration policies have put professionals dealing with the unemployed in the front line. No longer just concerned with standardised bureaucratic procedures, they are responsible for actively devising individualised programmes to meet the specific needs and resources of the unemployed. Much of the success of these policies depends on the relationship between the professional and the client. In many cases, the professional constitutes the last safety net for the socially excluded.
The project looked at this dialogue with the aim to reduce social exclusion by increasing the likelihood of effective communication between the excluded and professionals involved in social rehabilitation. It believes that if professionals understand the causes of communication breakdown better, they can modify their practice. It wanted to develop an ongoing training model to help them analyse how they interact with their clients and what they can do to become better communicators.
Work undertaken
The project developed a methodology for assessing the quality of the communication between professionals and clients. It used the psychology of linguistics to analyse speech interactions in the five partner countries. Each research team selected additional aspects of communication to study. The Spanish team, for example, analysed the characteristics of non-verbal behaviour.
Each country selected three types of professionals (training, medical and administrative) and studied the interaction of each with three categories of unemployed people (migrants, those with mental health problems and those with illiteracy problems).
The research comprised five phases: a first interview between the professional and client; a training session for the professional; a second interview with the client; a second training session; and a last interview. Video and sound recordings were made of the interviews although both professionals and their clients often opposed the filming of sessions.
After each interview, in each country, a group of psychologists specialised in psycholinguistics analysed the dialogues to assess the degree of exchange. They looked at the sequences in the dialogue and the ‘functional units’ within the sequences.
To analyse the sequences, they examined the interviews’ thematic continuity and the relationship between the constitutive themes and the objective of the interview. They examined how speech sequences linked together to discover the level of interactivity. For example, if it amounted to an unconnected juxtaposed speech sequence, a string of questions and answers, or a real interaction. To see if the interview is hierarchical, they assessed who took the initiative in selecting the themes.
To analyse the ‘functional units’ within the sequences, researchers coded the speech data into two principal grids:
- A ‘communicating’ functions grid, which gives general and quantitative information on the functioning of the dialogue. It shows the broad nature of the interview (directive, semi-directive or free) and the type of communication function most used by the parties. The grid comprised six broad types: phatic (making and maintaining contact); informational, expressive, conative (making a request, giving instructions); meta-communicative (defining terms, giving judgement on the way the interview is going) and poetic (effects of style).
- A grid of ‘correcting’ functions, which looks if the parties are seriously constructing a ‘common ground’. The grid distinguishes exchanges that check and rephrase the initial formulations compared to simple question and answer sessions where there is no checking of comprehension. It covers requests to repeat what has been said, requests for more information, requests for confirmation and responses to them, as well as comments indicating approval or disapproval.
The project also examined whether professionals could modify their communication style through a better awareness of how they handle the interviews. First, professionals were asked to set out what they believed to be the objective of the interview, how they would conduct it, and their perception of the unemployed person. The researchers then presented them with an analysis of the interview as it had been conducted, underlining both the effective and the dysfunctional components of their style.
Professionals were then trained to improve the dialogue. This was done by giving them detailed feedback, and through awareness and role distancing techniques.
Key outcomes / conclusions
The researchers said their analysis of the interviews showed that the pattern of communication was hierarchical rather than involving a genuine dialogue. For example, in interviews to build up a detailed picture of the needs and preferences of clients, the professionals did most of the talking even though the aim was for clients to express their needs and aspirations. This was the case in all the countries studied.
They also found the informative function dominated with professionals largely informing, rather than the client giving his or her point of view. The use of the corrective function, the strongest indicator of an interactive dialogue, was relatively rare. In addition, professionals used a different language depending on the type of unemployed person they were talking with.
But researchers also confirmed their training of professionals made a difference. As a result, they said professionals were able to modify their style and move towards genuine interaction.
They concluded that their rigorous measuring techniques show that a key problem in improving systems to assist the re-insertion of the unemployed is the largely one-way style of communication prevalent in the bureaucracies that are responsible for providing assistance. The success of individualised contract-driven insertion measures is hampered by the persistence of traditional communication styles.
The researchers emphasised that there is need for a cultural change among the personnel that staff the institutions providing such services. But they said such change is not easy to achieve, as professionals are often unaware of their communication styles and the institutional structures are not designed to be more open. They emphasised that an effective strategy to reduce the risks of social exclusion requires investment, not only in training the unemployed but also in training the professionals who are responsible for providing them with assistance and support.
Dissemination
The project disseminated its results through its publications and presentations at key conferences.
Publications' list
- Vivier, J.and Breux, S., ‘Les savoir-faire propres à l’interlocution chez des personnes illettrées en situation d’entretien: Recherche Action. Rapport final pour le groupe permanent de lutte contre l’illettrisme’, Ministère de l’Emploi et de la Solidarité, Paris, 2001.
- Vivier, J. (ed.), ‘Psycholinguistique et intelligence artificielle’, Langages 144, 2001.
- Vivier, J., Pineau, A. and Breux, S., ‘Enhancing the communication skills of the professionals involved in social rehabilitation: a possible solution to unemployment’, Gallie, D. (ed.), ‘Social exclusion and dialogue’, Oxford University, 2002.
- Pellois, C.and Vivier, J., (Eds.), ‘Mutations, bilan de compétences et personne’, Peter Lang, Berne, 2003.
| Full title | Exclusion et Dialogue. Former au Dialogue les Professionnels de l'Insertion: Une Solution Possible au Chomage |
| Project Acronym | EXCLUSION ET DIALOGUE |
| Contract number | 98-2052 |
| Project Type | RP |
| Programme | TSER |
| Keywords | social integration professionals, communication, illiteracy, mental illness, migrants and language, training, unemployment |
| Main contractor | Universite de Caen |
| Laboratoire de Psychologie Cognitive et Pathologique. Maison de la Recherche en Sciences Humaines. Pole Pluridisciplinaire Modesco | |
| Laboratoire de Psychologie Cognitive et Pathologique, Universite de Caen, Maison de la Recherche en Sciences Humaines, Pole Pluridisciplinaire Modesco | |
| 14032 Caen | |
| France | |
| Phone: +33 2 31 56 62 63 | |
| Fax.: +33 2 31 56 53 81 | |
| Scientific Coor. | Vivier Jean |
| vivier@mrsh.unicaen.fr | |
| Partners' List |
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| Start Date | 1999-01-01 |
| End Date | 2001-10-31 |
| EC Contribution | €134 500 |
| EC Scientific Officer | Giulia Amaducci |
| Final Report | Download PDF  - [827 Kb]
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