Abstract
The aim of the study is to show how reported client–practitioner conversations function as assessments. The setting of the study is a rehabilitation course targeted at young adults. The data consist of informal backstage meetings among the practitioners, which do not have an officially stated or recognized task of assessment making. However, the study demonstrates that the meeting talk is rich in reported client–practitioner conversations with a dimension of assessment. The located assessment functions of reported conversations and the accompanied meeting talk are (i) making negative and positive portraits of clients; (ii) treating clients' voices as selfevaluative and influential; and (iii) presenting practitioners' own past talk as problematic and creating selfadvice for future conversations. By making reported conversations visible as everyday assessment practices, the article challenges the onesided view of assessment as a separate and formal professional practice, which is conducted with standardized tools such as psychological and social ability tests.
About the authors
Kirsi Juhila is Professor in Social Work at the School of Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Tampere. Her research interests include discourse analysis, identity categorization, social work interaction, mental health, and homelessness. She is one of the editors and contributors of Constructing Client-hood in Social work and Human Services: Interaction, Identities and Practices (2003, Jessica Kingsley Publishers) and Analysing Social Work Communication: Discourse in Practice (2014, Routledge). Address for correspondence: School of Social Sciences and Humanities, 33014 University of Tampere, Finland 〈kirsi.juhila@uta.fi〉.
Sirpa Saario is a PhD student at the School of Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Tampere. Her research interests include mental health practices and policies, and new governmentality. She has published in journals such as Sociology of Health and Illness and Social Science and Medicine. Address for correspondence: School of Social Sciences and Humanities, 33014 University of Tampere, Finland 〈sirpa.saario@uta.fi〉.
Kirsi Günther is a PhD student at the School of Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Tampere. Her research interests include documentary practices in mental health and text analysis. Address for correspondence: School of Social Sciences and Humanities, 33014 University of Tampere, Finland 〈kirsi.gunther@uta.fi〉.
Suvi Raitakari, PhD, is Researcher at the School of Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Tampere. Her research interests include rhetorical analysis, social work interaction, mental health rehabilitation and supported housing. Address for correspondence: School of Social Sciences and Humanities, 33014 University of Tampere, Finland 〈suvi.raitakari@uta.fi〉.
©[2014] by Walter de Gruyter Berlin Boston
