Rein Ove Sikveland, Elizabeth Stokoe

A Cry for “Help”? How Crisis Negotiators Overcome Suicidal People's Resistance to Offers of Assistance

  • Linguistics and Language
  • Sociology and Political Science
  • Anthropology
  • Language and Linguistics
  • Education
  • Social Psychology
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This paper explores how police negotiators offer “help” to suicidal persons in crisis. The phrase “a cry for help” is long associated with suicide ideation, and “help” is a key offer made in crisis situations. However, we know little about how “help” is formulated, and received, in crisis encounters as they actually unfold. Fourteen cases (31 h) of UK-based police crisis negotiations with (suicidal) individuals in crisis were transcribed and analyzed using conversation analysis. Our analysis shows that persons in crisis typically reject negotiators’ offers of “help.” However, when negotiators propose that (and how) matters can be “sorted out,” or refocus “help” as actions that the person in crisis can do themselves, progress is made. The paper contributes to the growing literature on the management of resistance in institutional encounters, and to our understanding of how negotiators may minimize or de-escalate resistance in crisis communication.

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