The assessment of prospective adoptive parents is a complex task for professional social workers. In this study, we examine the structure and function of professional social workers’ follow-up questions in assessment talk with adoption applicants. The analysis shows that adoption assessment through interviews involved a delicate and complex task that was accomplished by using a particular genre of institutional talk. This both invited the applicants’ extended and ‘open-ended’ responses and steered these responses and their development towards the institutionally relevant topics. Detailed interaction analysis demonstrates that social workers used a broad range of question types to steer and guide applicants’ responses, organising talk about specific assessment topics. On the basis of initial open-ended topic initiations and applicants’ responses, the social workers steered topic development by using follow-up moves such as polar questions and clarifying questions that asked for specification, challenged applicants’ ideas, confirmed their knowledge and encouraged self-reflection. These follow-up moves allowed social workers to achieve the progression of talk into relevant areas of investigation and constituted a central and characteristic feature of assessment interviews. We suggest that they allow social workers to accomplish two hybrid institutional goals: i) the assessment of applicants’ suitability and ii) applicants’ preparation for future parenthood.

对准收养父母的评估对于专业的社会工作者来说是一项复杂的任务。在这项研究中，我们在与收养申请者进行的评估谈话中考察了专业社会工作者跟进问题的结构和功能。分析表明，通过访谈进行的通过评估包括一项微妙而复杂的任务，该任务是通过使用特定类型的机构谈话来完成的。这既邀请了申请人进行扩展和“开放式”答复，又将这些答复及其发展导向了与机构相关的主题。详细的互动分析表明，社会工作者使用各种各样的问题类型来引导和指导申请人的回答，并组织有关特定评估主题的讨论。根据最初的开放式主题发起和申请人的回应，社会工作者通过采取后续行动（例如极地问题和澄清要求规范的问题，挑战求职者的想法，确认他们的知识并鼓励自我反思）来引导话题的发展。这些后续行动使社会工作者得以将谈话进展到相关的调查领域，并构成了评估访谈的主要特征。我们建议他们允许社会工作者完成两个混合的机构目标：i）对申请人的适合性进行评估，以及ii）申请人为将来为人父母的准备。这些后续行动使社会工作者得以将谈话进展到相关的调查领域，并构成了评估访谈的主要特征。我们建议他们允许社会工作者完成两个混合的机构目标：i）对申请人的适合性进行评估，以及ii）申请人为将来为人父母的准备。这些后续行动使社会工作者得以将谈话进展到相关的调查领域，并构成了评估访谈的主要特征。我们建议他们允许社会工作者完成两个混合的机构目标：i）对申请人的适合性进行评估，以及ii）申请人为将来为人父母的准备。