THE JOINT ACTION OF PARENTS AND ADOLESCENTS IN CONVERSATION ABOUT CAREER

Analyses of 14 videotaped parent-adolescent career conversations revea l the socially constructed nature of career. These analyses are used t o identify joint actions in career conversations, determine their patt erns, and address their meaning for the participants. Joint action ref ers to the action that people take together or that occurs between the m. The participants used 3 superordinate joint actions (struggle, expl oration, and negotiation) and several subordinate joint actions. Three patterns of joint actions were also identified The joint actions had particular meaning for both career and the relationship between the pa rticipants.