Women in the American Welfare Trap

Appendix A

Appendix A: Transcripts As I indicated in Chapter 1, part of the careful exploration of talk entails attending not only to content but also to process, some ofwhich may be represented in transcripts by the use of sxmbols to indicate phenomena such as overlaps, or fast or slow speech. The symbols that I use in the following transcripts, adapted from Mishler (1986) and Moerman (1988), are as follows: (number) CAPS # * ( )« » ? + Case #1 Overlapping speech. Pause, as between phrases or sentences. Longer silences, timed in seconds. Connects two utterances produced with noticeably less transition time between them than usual. Cut off. Indicates that the preceding sound is stopped abruptly. Indicates that the preceding sound is elongated. Indicates emphatic delivery. Bounds words/passages spoken very quickly. Bounds words/passages spoken softly and slowly. Bounds uncertain/undecipherable words/passages. Bounds transcriber's comments or nonverbal vocalizations. Question intonation. Indicates pounding on table for added emphasis. In the following exchange, Dara DeLuca, who had never received public assistance, invokes the category of the "undeserving" poor-in this case, those who abuse the welfare system because they are too lazy to look after themselves. In response, Susan Harrison concedes that such people exist , but claims that they represent only a small proportion of welfare re- 164 Appendix A: Transcripts cipients. The participants are Dara, Susan, and Meg Irwin; three other people are present but do not participate in the talk. we're with- [ there IS gonna be, there's fifty percent wo:rking, working welfare moms, there's twenty-five percent I think that would LIKE to work but they don't have no HOpe and then we've got the twenty-five percent thatjust don't GIVE a damn yep go out there and do it FOR me# you know type shit [ yeah bullSHIT, huh (LIFE 5/6/90) HERE for I go,you you LOOK AROUND and you see these people driving these nice cars and you know damn WELL they're on welfare because of the way they LIVE *yeah* (2) you know damn WELL, or they've TALKED about it with you, so how the hell'd you get this nice CAR ifyou're such a, you know, on WELfare, who are YOU screwing ((laughs» you KNOW= = that's IT, that's it and I don't agree with that, hell NO, I don't ((laughs» I don't EIther, but see that's, THAT'Sjust a FEW out of the oh yeah you know (1) the, they're gettin' away D: I understand the people that have kids, and that can't get a job, yes I understand, but I (don't) understand people that CAN get ajob and that are on WELfare yep you know well that's what [ and that, you know, [ S: 1 2 3 4 5 S: 6 D: 7 s: 8 9 D: 10 11 12 13 D: 14 15 16 17 ?: 18 19 D: 20 21 22 23 24 s: 25 D: 26 27 S: 28 29 D: 30 s: 31 32 M: 33 34 35 S: 36 37 38 39 40 41 S: 42 43 44 D: The most noteworthy feature of this segment is how long it takes for anyone to challenge Dara. Susan responds to Dara's comments at lines 7 Appendix A: Transcripts 165 and 11-12 by indicating that challenging stereotypes is one of LIFE's goals, but she fails to contest the image Dara is creating-an image that draws on stereotypes of both welfare abuse and promiscuity-until line 28, even though there was a clear opportunity to do so at line 18. Indeed , since no one else starts speaking at the pause at line 18, Dara continues her turn, more or less reiterating her point about "welfare cheats." Nor did any of the other four people present offer a challenge (Meg's bid at lines 32-33 is unsuccessful, and provides insufficient basis for speculation) . When she finally does challenge Dara, Susan argues that the ones who "don't give a damn"-the undeserving-comprise only one quarter of all recipients. Half of welfare recipients are employed, and are, moreover , also mothers ("working welfare moms"). Along with recipients who want to but cannot work (the 25 percent who "don't have no hope") these recipients are deserving, and should not be penalized for the shortcomings of the 25 percent who "don't give a damn." No one contests the figures Susan uses to bolster her claim...