Timeout! : En Kritisk diskursanalys över kommunikationsprocesser på chatsidan familjeliv.se

Sammanfattning: Digital communication system for interaction is a part of the everyday life for the majority of people in the society. The Internet offers a space for counselling, support and/ or discussion. By using the Internet chat page familjeliv.se as a field research for a critical discourse analysis (CDA) following Norman Fairclough approach on the discussed and debated child fostering technique “timeout”, his theory and method enables a study on the construction of identity, roles and discourses. According to Fairclough, CDA does not stand on its own. It is depended on complementary theory(s) in the analysis of the social practice, for example theories on social interaction and power relations. Therefor Erving Goffmans theory on interaction and Anders Perssons comparative analysis of Goffman in the context of online interaction is applied with the company of Michele Foucault and Erich Fromm s theories on power relations. CDA origins from social constructionism and is therefor questioning the statement that there is an absolute objective truth. In that aspect, the theory of social constructionism is integrated and applied on the discussion of how and why certain constructions exist. The users of the forum position them selves for or against timeout and by using the method of CDA on the text and the discursive practice, ideologies can come to light in the social practice such as behaviourism. In certain senses, the discourse on Familejliv mirrors society’s disagreement on the effect and consequences of timeout and how to preserve children’s rights and not place the child at the risk of offensive abuse. The discourse of the child as in need of discipline also constitute and reflects the social learning theory aspects and behaviourism in society and social work through state parent support programs. On the topic of child fostering and the technique timeout, other discourses came to surface and when analysing the texts using the tools of CDA, an unequal power relation between mother and child became noticeable which shows how the parent use its natural power to supress the child verbally and physically which constructs discourses like  “the damn child”. With the same method the construction of  “the powerless and tired mother” is detected which can be explained by society’s anticipations on motherhood and can be traced to high expectation and therefor cause parental burnout.