Trust(in) the future: future talk in social work settings

This paper explores how social workers and clients talk about future actions, events, possibilities, and
outcomes in their encounters. Unpredictability and uncertainty is an inherent part of social work
practice (Smith, 2004). The social problems that form the basis of social work interventions are
typically described as ""wicked problems"" characterized by high levels of ambiguity regarding the
nature of the problem and unpredictable outcomes of interventions (Krogstrup, 2011; cf. Rittel &
Webber, 1973). In social work encounters trust becomes particularly relevant when parties are
dependent on the other’s response to achieve a favorable future outcome or to reach institutional
goals. In one common understanding, trust is seen as a way of managing risk and uncertainty in
relation to the unknown (Giddens, 1991; Luhmann, 2017; Simmel, 1989, 1992). In this understanding,
a core aspect of trust is predictability, strengthening people's tolerance for ambiguity by allowing
them to act with positive expectations towards unknown future situations or people.
In this paper we explore how the contingent nature of the future is managed in interaction in order to
discuss trust as an observable interactional social phenomenon. We base our analyses on
audio/videotaped encounters between social work professionals and clients in various settings,
including statutory child welfare, a psychiatric supported housing facility, and a church-based support
organization for prisoners and ex-prisoners.
Using conversation analysis we analyze a collection of instances of interaction, where social workers
and clients talk about future events or scenarios. These instances include 1) talk that outline favorable
future scenarios, including the use of exposed or embedded if-then constructions (cf. Moore, 2013),
hypotheticals, conditionals, and grammatical constructions of possible worlds, as well as assessments,
promises, assurances or other expressions of positive outlooks on or predictions about the future; 2)
talk that guides the other party through process steps aimed at establishing transparency, such as
formulations (Heritage & Watson, 1979) and pre-enactments (Leyland, 2016) in talk about the future
as “an imaginative and discursive practice” (Suchman, 2007: 13) to establish shared imaginary
conditions of a potential future and enable clients to ‘step into the future’ (cf. Ochs, 1994); and, 3) talk
that displays the speaker's good intentions and ability to put them into action and seem to be oriented
towards mitigating potential negative outcomes Many of these practices and actions may be
57
considered ""trust techniques"" as they may serve to create an impression of predictability,
transparency and no hidden agendas (cf. Nielsen & Nielsen, 2022).