The Coexistence Of Institutional Talk And Mundane Communication In Psychiatric Consultation:a Case Study

As an approach to communication study, conversation analysis has been employed in various fields. Medical communication is one of main subjects in conversation analysis. More and more analysts at home and abroad begin to study medical communication according to the basic theory of conversation analysis. Most of them pay their attention to primary care visits. With regard to the field of psychiatry, conversation analysts seldom touch upon it. Therefore, this study focuses on analyzing different patterns and effects of psychiatric visits from the perspective of conversation analysis. The analysis of overall structure of psychiatric visits offers a way to reach to the essence of psychiatry and to understand this specific medical field, and paves the way for other analysts. Besides, the analysis of communication between psychiatrists and patients also provides a social method for psychiatrists to get along with patients so that they can make exact diagnoses and treatments for patients. In a word, the present study possesses both academic and practical significances.On the basis of the relevant literature, this study seeks to contribute to the psychiatrist-patient interaction in China. The content of this thesis includes topic management, relationship categories and effects of coexistence of two modes.The present study uses conversation analysis to analyze the data collected from mental diseases hospital in Taiyuan, China. In order to guarantee the authenticity of the data employed in the present study, we recorded the data in the natural situation and got permission from both psychiatrists and patients. Then, the data were transcribed in details in order to find out specific features and objectively analyze the contents and forms of communication.On the basis of analyzing the data, we find that there are two modes of talk coexisting in psychiatric visits—ordinary conversation and institutional interaction. The coexistence of two modes is not in an incidental manner but in a special arrangement by psychiatrists. At the beginning of visits, psychiatrists design small talk to establish accessibility so that patients may give up inimical ideas and communicate with psychiatrists. After establishing accessibility, psychiatrists shift topics into institutional ones. The aim is to perform psychiatrists’power and accomplish their institutional task of making diagnoses and giving treatments for patients.