Doing respectful closeness: the role of minimal listening responses in supporting disclosure of sexual offenses

Objective Across institutional settings, there are conversations in which the client’s disclosure of moral transgressions is a goal in itself or a necessary step toward change. Such disclosure both depends on and may threaten the client–professional relationship. Therefore, these conversations constitute a fruitful setting for examining how people build purposive relationships within institutional constraints. We aim to examine how participants interactionally co-achieve a relationship that is purposive toward disclosure of moral transgressions. Methods Drawing on conversation analysis (CA) of 19 research interviews with young people who have committed sexual violation(s), we apply longitudinal CA on one single successful case, substantiated by three contrastive examples. Results Our analysis demonstrates how a purposive relationship quality of respectful closeness is co-achieved through the interviewer’s responsive and skillful use of minimal listening tokens to support the interviewee’s progression toward disclosure. We specify one overarching dynamic (mutual trust) and three practices (staying with difficulty, relationally scaffolded storytelling, and managing absence with presence) characterizing this relational work. Conclusion Relationship quality is achieved on a turn-by-turn basis and may over time result in the relational robustness necessary to disclose sexual offenses. Conversation analysis detailing this relational work can develop both theory and clinical practice, and unpacks expertise as practical, observable knowledge.