“You can’t do it...it’s theory rather than practice”: staff use of the practice/principal rhetorical device in talk on empowering people with learning disabilities

This study explores the discourses of support staff of people with learning disabilities talking about how choices and control are promoted or denied for service-users. A semi-structured interview based on issues identified in the White Paper 'Valuing People' was administered to 15 professional care-givers of people with learning disabilities. These were transcribed and analysed using discourse analysis. The analysis demonstrated the use of two dominant discursive themes: increasing autonomy and practicalities talk. These themes were frequently mobilized together in a manner that paralleled what Wetherell et al. (1987) termed a 'practice/ principle rhetorical device,' to argue against increasing choices and control. The implications of this are discussed, as are the subject positions offered to staff and service-users.