Troubles-Complaints and the Overall Structural Organization of Troubles-Remedy Sequences

Abstract

Reporting troubles can be used as a vehicle for accomplishing many different kinds of actions. In some cases, troubles may be raised to engender practical courses of action—that is, to mobilize some form of remedy or assistance from the recipient to deal with those troubles. In this article, we focus on instances of troubles reports in institutional encounters that are hearable as delivering troubles-complaints. We illustrate how the extended troubles-remedy sequences through which these troubles-complaints are implemented are designed to mobilize an offer of some form of practical action to remedy or assist with those troubles. We propose that although the troubles-remedy sequences are locally produced and involve different situated contingencies, they exhibit a recurrent overall structural organization that arises through sequence expansions of those troubles-complaints, which orients to resolving practical or material troubles, as well as institutional resistance to doing just that. Data are in English.