Motivational talk: Doing motivation in job centre meetings with disadvantaged youth

In recent decades, the concept of motivation has become central to active labour market policies (ALMP) across various welfare regimes. Within the ALMP framework, client motivation has been addressed through both ‘hard’ approaches, such as economic sanctions and benefit reductions, and ‘soft’ approaches, including client-involving conversations aimed at tailoring individualized action plans based on clients’ aspirations and goals. Despite the growing emphasis on motivation in policy development, the concept itself remains underexplored in social work and policy research. This paper employs a conversation analytical methodology to examine 27 audio recordings of naturally occurring interactions in Danish job centres between frontline social workers and young, disadvantaged clients at the margins of employment and education. By focusing on these interactions, the paper investigates how motivation is constructed and managed at the forefront of Danish ALMP, offering both empirical and theoretical insights into the field. The analysis of ‘motivational talk’ sequences reveals that social workers introduce the concept of motivation into the conversations, assuming that motivation exists as a latent quality within clients, which can then be ‘cultivated’ into actionable, short-term steps toward activation. When clients struggle to express motivation oriented toward activation due to their personal circumstances, the conversation shifts to framing motivation as rather abstract hopes and beliefs.