Mechanism of Interpersonal Relationship Construction Observed by Mapping Linguistic Evaluation of Family Therapy Interview Texts Qualitative Analysis

Abstract

　　In family therapy, the way in which interaction between the therapist and the family members proceeds is a key factor in having family members continue the sessions. As the session unfolds, the therapist becomes part of the environment surrounding the family, and through the intervention of the therapist ― a newcomer ― in the existing family norms, a new therapeutic system is established jointly with the family members. Therefore, the initial session is an important stage and whether family members continue the sessions or not depends on how smoothly the therapist can become a new part of the existing group norm. This study showed how the therapist and each of the family members used an evaluative lexis and expressions to construct each social personality and interpersonal relationship of the members in a session, and conducted analysis regarding the characteristics derived from the use of evaluative language by three therapists, as well as the deviation of the effective interactions from the viewpoint of establishing interpersonal relationships. Martin developed Appraisal theory, which systematizes the linguistic evaluation of any text, via the theoretical framework of Systemic Functional Linguistics. This study adapted Martin's theory to the transcripts of three sessions of the same setting of family therapy. First, linguistic evaluation mapping was constructed, which was followed by quantitative analysis. This study focused on qualitative linguistic analysis based on the quantitative results obtained.

　　From the viewpoint of the manipulative mechanism of the linguistic interaction in constructing the interpersonal relationships of the members, discussions were conducted on (1) evaluation of “emotion” as the focal point of negotiation, (2) evaluation as psychotherapeutic verdictives combined with certain lexicogrammatical resources, such as relational process clauses and mental process clauses with the second person subject, (3) the direction of the session in which the difference of inscribed/evoked appraisal leads, (4) the evaluative reaction lexis as a factor in controlling and organizing the session, and (5) family therapy as power play.