Managing Age-Appropriate Conversations with Children Present

Abstract

When working with families and engaging families in conversation, one of the challenges is to negotiate appropriate topics of conversation with children present. Although what constitutes an appropriate topic of conversation may vary between cultures, there are usually normative ideas about what constitute adult topics that are not suitable for children to overhear or be engaged in. In this chapter, we utilise empirical data to explore some of the problems involved in navigating this challenging endeavour. Drawing on our family therapy and mental health assessment data where the practitioner attempts to establish the nature of the difficulties within the family, we highlight the value of having periods of time where parents and children have opportunities to present their versions of events separately. This potentially negates the troublesome situation of parents speaking pejoratively about their children in front of their children.