DEMAND-CONTROL SCHEMA
Gallaudet
June, 2010
Encounters with Reality
“Once one has mastered sign language, the
mechanics of interpreting, and internalized
the Code of Ethics, the really difficult work
begins.”
How do you sign…
“What’s going on with you?”
• In a psychiatric hospital between night nurse
and patient
• In an emergency room between patient and
doctor
• In the police station between mother and son
• Between close friends who haven’t seen each
other for a long time
“Interpreting…is not merely transposing from
one language to another. It is, rather, throwing
a semantic bridge between two different
cultures, two different thought worlds.”
---Claude Namy (1977)
A person’s thought world is shaped by their experiences throughout their life.
It is their mind set, their reality, their “thought world.”
“I was interpreting in a church…..”
Demand-Control Theory
• Developed by Robert Karasek and Tores Theorell
• Basis for Dean & Pollard’s Demand-Control Schema for
Interpreters
• Looked at jobs in relation to two continua: demands and
controls
High Control
IV Low-strain
I Active
Low demand--------------------------High Demand
IIIPassive
II High-strain
Low Control
Demands
Controls
BALANCE = WELLNESS
Demands
Requirements of the job; those factors
which “act upon” the worker
• What factors are impacting the work?
- Not necessarily “demanding”
• Demands are about the job
Categorizing Interpreting Demands
• Environmental: That which is specific to the
setting, (e.g. professional roles, terminology, physical
surroundings)
• Interpersonal: That which is specific to the
interaction of the consumers and interpreter
• Paralinguistic: That which is specific to the
expressive skills of the consumers, deaf or hearing
• Intrapersonal: That which is specific to the
interpreter (e.g. thoughts, feelings, physical states
Environmental Demands
• Physical Surroundings
-
Room temperature
Smells and odors
Seating arrangements/sight lines
Visual distractions
Background noise
Space (people, furniture, equipment)
• Goal or Purpose of the Setting
• Terminology
• Personnel or clientele
Interpersonal Demands
•
•
•
•
•
•
Interactional dynamics (authority, power)
Communication style and goals
Emotional tone or mood
Role and cultural differences
Communication flow (e.g., turn taking)
Relationship nuances (new, familiar, intimate,
tension power, etc.)
• “Thought worlds”
Paralinguistic Demands
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Idiosyncrasies of signing/speaking
Volume
Pace
Accents
Clarity of Speech
Physical Position
Physical Limitations
Intrapersonal Demands
• Feelings or ruminations one may have about:
-
one’s safety
one’s interpreting performance
liability
the people and the dynamics
the environment
• Physiological distractions
• Psychological responses or distractions
Example of Demand Analysis
First Grade Class
Scenario:
The teacher has called the children over to her
on the carpet for a story about penguins. The
students are seated on the carpet and
listening to the story. There is an interpreter
seated next to the teacher and a deaf child
seated in the middle facing both teacher and
interpreter.
Environmental Demands
• Goal: education, entertainment
• Personnel/Clientele: 20 first graders (can
describe ethnic characteristics), teacher (can
describe age and ethnicity)
• Physical Surroundings: students seated on a
carpet, crowded, teacher in front on rocking
chair, visually busy, door to the hallway is open.
• Terminology: specific character names, place
names, penguin related vocabulary
Interpersonal Demands
• Teacher uses facial expressions and gestures for
correcting children
• Teacher will insert the name of a child while reading
the story to correct behavior
• A student complains she can’t see the picture
• Teacher asks students to predict what might happen
• The story is visually interesting and students are
fascinated watching the interpreter
• A student calls out, “How do you sign ‘penguin’?”
• Teacher is unaware of a child sneaking candy from
his pocket and passing it to a few selected children
Paralinguistic Demands
•
•
•
•
“Read” material
Teacher has an accent
She reads slowly and pauses for emphasis
The Deaf child signs with one hand, using his
voice
• Kids are whispering to each other about the
candy
• Intermittent noise from the hallway makes the
story hard to hear
Intrapersonal Demands
• Interpreter feels qualified for this setting.
• Interpreter feels frustrated with the children’s
inattention.
• Interpreter feels cramped with so many
children around.
• Interpreter feels good that the deaf child is
attending to the lesson.
Picture Analysis Assignment
New employee orientation
Deaf consumer has Ushers
Syndrome.
The presenter often refers to handouts and
reads from them.
Controls
• Skills or resources that the worker can bring to
bear in response to the demands of the job
• Controls may involve:
- Behavioral actions and interventions
- Particular translation decisions
- Internal /attitudinal acknowledgments
Controls of the Interpreter
Three time periods
• Pre-assignment controls: controls that are
employed before or in preparation for the
formal assignment
• Assignment controls: controls that are
employed during the interpreting assignment
• Post-assignment controls: controls that are
employed after the assignment is over.
Pre-assignment Controls
• Physical, cognitive, and psychological
attributes such as gender, age, ethnicity, etc.
• Interpreting education, direct and indirect
• Credentials, such as certifications or QAS
• Experience, both work-related and personal
• Direct preparation for the assignment
- Clothing
- Contacts (team, hearing and deaf consumers)
- Readings, prep materials, Internet
Assignment Controls
•
•
•
•
•
•
Identifying demands
Positive self-talk
Direct interventions
Interpretations/Translations
Code of Professional Conduct
Role metaphors (machine, window, telephone
line, Bi-Bi, ally)
Post-assignment Controls
• Supervision
- Formal (with supervisor)
- Informal (with colleagues)
• Debriefing/venting
- With support system
• Follow up
- With people involved
- With further education
- With referring party
• Self-care
Ethical and Effective Decisions
Too Liberal
Therefore
ineffective
and/or
unethical
Too Conservative
Therefore
ineffective
and/or
unethical
Liberal: favoring action, creativity, assertiveness
Conservative: favoring inaction, reservation, patience
Controls Exercise
• Suppose you are working a group
discussion assignment, and from where
you are sitting, you cannot hear the
person who is talking.
• Best practice process doesn’t start with
“what do I do” but starts with “what’s
going on.”
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
Ask speaker to repeat
what was said
Tell the deaf person you couldn’t 15. Leave out unheard portion/ignore
hear
it
Ask the deaf person what to do 16. Interpret what was heard while
explaining the missed piece
Ask facilitator to repeat
17. Describe how the person is
Ask speaker to talk louder
talking
Ask speaker to stand
Move closer to the speaker
Liberal?
Move to the center of the group
Ask the group to move
Conservative?
Alter acoustics (e.g., close a
Effective?
door/window)
Move speaker to speaker
Ethical?
Stop environmental noise
Stand up yourself
Use closure skills and “assume”
18. Narrate comments using third
person
30.
19. Give visual cues that you cannot
31.
hear (cup ear, lean in, look quizzical)
20. Repeat the heard text back to the
speaker up to the point you didn’t
hear
21. Use amplification (e.g., microphone)
22. Refer to visual or written material
23. Explain to the deaf person why you
can’t hear
24. Ask the person next to you what was
said
25. Ask the whole group to please speak
up
26. Ask the deaf person to do
something
27. Stop signing
28. Make it up
29. Look at the speaker (orient face to
face)
Read the speaker’s lips
Ask the group to move to a different
place
Liberal?
Conservative?
Effective?
Ethical?
Group Activity
Based on the controls you came up with in the
picture analysis, construct a list of controls in
all three categories:
Pre-Assignment
During Assignment
Post-Assignment
GGoGoalaGoal
AsAs
Picture Analysis Assignment
• High school Chemistry class
• One Deaf student, in black shirt
• Teacher is demonstrating a machine that
measures air quality