THE IDENTITIES OF THE LONG-TERM UNEMPLOYED

How one should define the long-term unemployed and how they define themselves is an extremely important social issue. This article puts forward a sociological approach to this question based on the analysis of the confrontation between practices and behaviour of the professional workers in charge of dealing with long-term unemployed and the reactions and interpretations of those directly concerned : the unemployed. The article shows, through a combination of both direct observation of the interactions between the two parties and semi-direct interviews on the interaction with the actors concerned, how the replies are dealt with now there is this category crisis in unemployment and for the unemployed. The handling results in four typical identity forms clearly distinguished from the statutory or formal categories, which form subjectively significant configurations for the unemployed and which are socially pertinent for professionals.