Public Complaints and Complaint Responses in Calls to a Jordanian Radio Phone-in Program

Abstract

This study investigates complaints and complaint responses in interactions between local citizens and the hosts of a live two-hour radio phone-in in Jordan devoted to receiving and handling complaints of a public nature. Using Brown and Levinson’s (1987) politeness model, the study examines the functions and patterns of complaints and the types of responses elicited from the hosts. Findings indicate that callers attempt to promote solidarity with the hosts in order to strengthen the validity of their complaints and increase their chances of receiving remedial action. Given the inherently face-threatening nature of complaints, the data show that there is often a considerable area of rapport building between callers and the hosts, achieved through such devices as praising remarks and use of informal address forms. In responding to the complaints, the hosts attempt to negotiate solidarity with callers by encouraging them to speak freely, using empathic remarks, and promising to transfer callers’ problems to the authorities. These phone-in complaints are thus heavily constrained and shaped by the public institutional setting in which they are performed. This study investigates the conversational behavior of local citizens and the hosts of a radio phone-in program in Jordan devoted to handling complaints of a public nature in which different government departments are involved. In particular, the study examines the complaint patterns used by callers and the ways in which the program hosts respond to these public complaints and provide redress. The program is broadcast on weekdays and receives calls from local citizens about problems they encounter in terms of public services, or problems caused by bureaucratic inefficiency. Therefore, the program’s role involves calling the relevant government department in order to provide possible solutions for the problem in question. In light of the apparent unresponsiveness of governments to grievances about public services and corruption, one issue fueling current popular protests in the Middle East, such ‘open’