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Misplaced Mistrust: The Collaborative Construction of Doubt In 911 Emergency Calls
Author(s) -
Garcia Angela Cora,
Parmer Penelope Ann
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
symbolic interaction
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.874
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1533-8665
pISSN - 0195-6086
DOI - 10.1016/s0195-6086(00)87399-3
Subject(s) - psychology , sociology , social psychology , computer security , computer science
In this paper, we analyze how the call‐taker in a taped 911 call came to doubt a caller who was reporting a genuine emergency. Using conversation analysis, we show how the caller's actions in the unfolding context of the call did not successfully support his claims to be a caller with legitimate trouble to report. We show how the participants' experience of the call as it unfolded differed from the media's depictions of the call. The call‐taker's doubt was not an intrapersonal phenomenon but was constructed by both participants throughout the call. One of the major factors in this construction was the unsuccessful claims‐making techniques used by the caller.