Downgrading as a counterstrategy: a case study in child welfare

Child welfare conversations in cases of suspected sexual child abuse are often slow and complex processes in which professionals and clients proceed cautiously. These conversations may best be considered as negotiations between professionals aiming at classifying clients in or out of problem categories, and clients distancing themselves from these categories or downgrading them. In a case study of a conversation between a child welfare worker and a 15-year-old boy who is the likely victim of sexual abuse by his stepfather, this process is demonstrated by an interactional analysis. It is shown that the client is not co-operating in a co-operative way.