Abstract

In this article, we examine patterns of negotiation in multi-party decision making in social work. We draw on Strauss’ theory of negotiated order and a discourse analytical approach, seeking to gain insight into the complex accomplishment of making a decision in an inter-professional and multi-party setting. Working with data from 97 team meetings in a social work setting, we identify two patterns of negotiation in talk: expanding and postponing. ‘Expanding’ covers a group of interactional actions involving turn-taking and closure, while ‘postponing’ includes a group of actions whereby assessments or topics are avoided or made irrelevant. Both are examples of the complex ways in which team members negotiate both the institutional order and the decision to be made in the specific case in situ.