Organizations acting on behalf of society are expected to act fairly, explaining themselves and their procedures. For the police, explanation is routine and repetitive. It's also very powerful. This book provides an unusual opportunity to see different speakers and writers explaining the same texts in their own words in British police stations.

' this book is an extraordinary tour de force. It is a classic piece of applied linguistics, in that it uses theory and methods from a range of fields to analyse and address a social issue. It makes compelling use of authentic interview data to reveal how and why communication does and does not happen. It steps well beyond conventional linguistic theories to address cautioning as a social process. It is compulsory reading for anyone who is interested in cautioning.' John Gibbons, Journal of Sociolinguistics

'...this book is a laudable effort to study "documents-in-action". The originality of this book lies in the fact that it is not just a discussion of how to improve the comprehensibility of "difficult" texts, but also an investigation of how these texts function in the real world.' - Martha Komter, Information Design Journal

'Communicating Rights makes a significant contribution not only to the field of language and the law but also to the UK justice system. Author Frances Rock should be applauded for her balanced yet sharp analyses of written and spoken rights communication, supported by her extensive repertoire of sociolinguistic tools for discourse analysis...I would recommend this book to scholars and legal professionals as a classic in rights communication.' Ikuko Nakane, The International Journal of Speech, Language and the Law

Autorentext
FRANCES ROCK is a Lecturer in the Centre for Language and Communication Research at Cardiff University, UK. She has previously taught at the Universities of Roehampton and Birmingham.

Inhalt
List Of Figures Acknowledgements Terminology and Key to Transcription Conventions PART 1: RIGHTS AND RESEARCH: ORIENTATION AND THEORY Introduction Beyond Language as Transmission PART 2: WRITING RIGHTS Introducing Written Rights Communication Working with Syntax and Lexis in Writing Working with Organization in Writing Working with Context: Rights Texts in Custody Off The Page: Detainees' Reading Practices PART 3: SPEAKING RIGHTS Introducing Spoken Rights Communication Working with Lexis in Speech Working with Organization in Speech Checking Comprehension Beyond Explanation: Using Cautioning PART 4: RIGHTING RIGHTS? Conclusion Notes References Appendices Index