Journal of Contemporary Ethnography

 

Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Click here for more information

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by STENROSS, B.
Right arrow Articles by KLEINMAN, S.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati  
What's this?
Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, Vol. 17, No. 4, 435-452 (1989)
DOI: 10.1177/089124189017004003

THE HIGHS AND LOWS OF EMOTIONAL LABOR

Detectives' Encounters with Criminals and Victims

BARBARA STENROSS

SHERRYL KLEINMAN

Sociologists have conceived of emotional labor as alienating. In-depth interviews with general investigative detectives revealed that even within the same occupation workers may find some emotional labor alienating, but other emotional labor bearable or even enjoyable. The detectives we studied disliked their encounters with victims, but enjoyed their encounters with criminals. The detectives discounted criminals' emotional displays as inauthentic, redefined their emotional labor as relevant to catching criminals, and turned the encounters into a game. They could not, however, transform their uncomfortable encounters with victims into a positive experience.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Journal of Contemporary EthnographyHome page
M. George
Interactions in Expert Service Work: Demonstrating Professionalism in Personal Training
Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, February 1, 2008; 37(1): 108 - 131.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 SociologyHome page
D. S. King
Activists and Emotional Reflexivity: Toward Touraine's Subject as Social Movement
Sociology, October 1, 2006; 40(5): 873 - 891.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Journal of Contemporary EthnographyHome page
A. Mears and W. Finlay
Not Just a Paper Doll: How Models Manage Bodily Capital and Why They Perform Emotional Labor
Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, June 1, 2005; 34(3): 317 - 343.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Journal of Contemporary EthnographyHome page
R. Garot
"You're Not a Stone": Emotional Sensitivity in a Bureaucratic Setting
Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, December 1, 2004; 33(6): 735 - 766.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Work and OccupationsHome page
K. J. LIVELY
Client Contact and Emotional Labor: Upsetting the Balance and Evening the Field
Work and Occupations, May 1, 2002; 29(2): 198 - 225.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Journal of Hospitality & Tourism ResearchHome page
P. J. Sandiford and D. Seymour
Emotional Labor in Public Houses: Reflections on a Pilot Study
Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, February 1, 2002; 26(1): 54 - 70.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Management Communication QuarterlyHome page
S. Shuler and B. D. Sypher
Seeking Emotional Labor: When Managing the Heart Enhances the Work Experience
Management Communication Quarterly, August 1, 2000; 14(1): 50 - 89.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Management Communication QuarterlyHome page
S. J. Tracy
Becoming a Character for Commerce: Emotion Labor, Self-Subordination, and Discursive Construction of Identity in a Total Institution
Management Communication Quarterly, August 1, 2000; 14(1): 90 - 128.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Work and OccupationsHome page
H. J. McCAMMON and L. J. GRIFFIN
Workers and their Customers and Clients: An Editorial Introduction
Work and Occupations, August 1, 2000; 27(3): 278 - 293.
[PDF]

Home page
 The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social ScienceHome page
R. J. STEINBERG and D. M. FIGART
Emotional Labor Since The Managed Heart
The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, January 1, 1999; 561(1): 8 - 26.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social ScienceHome page
M. L. BELLAS
Emotional Labor in Academia: The Case of Professors
The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, January 1, 1999; 561(1): 96 - 110.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social ScienceHome page
S. E. MARTIN
Police Force or Police Service? Gender and Emotional Labor
The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, January 1, 1999; 561(1): 111 - 126.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social ScienceHome page
R. J. STEINBERG and D. M. FIGART
Emotional Demands at Work: A Job Content Analysis
The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, January 1, 1999; 561(1): 177 - 191.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 SociologyHome page
H. Frith and C. Kitzinger
`Emotion Work' as a Participant Resource: A Feminist Analysis of Young Women's Talk-in-Interaction
Sociology, May 1, 1998; 32(2): 299 - 320.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Journal of Contemporary EthnographyHome page
M. B. TOLICH
ALIENATING AND LIBERATING EMOTIONS AT WORK: Supermarket Clerks' Performance of Customer Service
Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, October 1, 1993; 22(3): 361 - 381.
[Abstract]