Protecting the Self: An Ethnographic Study of Emotion Management Among Child Protective Investigators

The question that I investigate here is what emotion work is performed by child protective investigators in order to be successful at their work, and how do they manage these emotional challenges within a community of their peers? Many different workers, from airline employees (Hochschild, 1983) to...

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Main Author: Howell, Aaron Christopher
Format: Others
Published: Scholar Commons 2008
Subjects:
Online Access:https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/303
https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1302&context=etd
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spelling ndltd-USF-oai-scholarcommons.usf.edu-etd-13022019-10-04T05:15:54Z Protecting the Self: An Ethnographic Study of Emotion Management Among Child Protective Investigators Howell, Aaron Christopher The question that I investigate here is what emotion work is performed by child protective investigators in order to be successful at their work, and how do they manage these emotional challenges within a community of their peers? Many different workers, from airline employees (Hochschild, 1983) to mortuary science students (Cahill, 1999) to 911 operators (Shuler & Sypher, 2000), have been studied to examine strategies and effects of emotion management. Yet scholars do not agree on whether emotion management at work is positive or negative. For my research, I conducted interviews with ten investigators and observed a night unit of child protective investigators in a Central Florida Sheriff's Office. I observed three different types of strategies, which I discuss in detail: office based strategies, field based strategies, and personal strategies. Office based strategies include group humor, practical support and sharing experiences. Field based strategies include calming down the parent, enlisting the client, and distancing humor. Personal strategies include accentuating importance and blaming the parent. In the conclusion I summarize my research and discuss the finding that both novice and veteran child protective investigators use these strategies. I end with policy recommendations and I stress the importance of building a supportive professional community through further training. 2008-10-30T07:00:00Z text application/pdf https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/303 https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1302&context=etd default Graduate Theses and Dissertations Scholar Commons Ethnography Interviews Challenges Strategies Work American Studies Arts and Humanities
collection NDLTD
format Others
sources NDLTD
topic Ethnography
Interviews
Challenges
Strategies
Work
American Studies
Arts and Humanities
spellingShingle Ethnography
Interviews
Challenges
Strategies
Work
American Studies
Arts and Humanities
Howell, Aaron Christopher
Protecting the Self: An Ethnographic Study of Emotion Management Among Child Protective Investigators
description The question that I investigate here is what emotion work is performed by child protective investigators in order to be successful at their work, and how do they manage these emotional challenges within a community of their peers? Many different workers, from airline employees (Hochschild, 1983) to mortuary science students (Cahill, 1999) to 911 operators (Shuler & Sypher, 2000), have been studied to examine strategies and effects of emotion management. Yet scholars do not agree on whether emotion management at work is positive or negative. For my research, I conducted interviews with ten investigators and observed a night unit of child protective investigators in a Central Florida Sheriff's Office. I observed three different types of strategies, which I discuss in detail: office based strategies, field based strategies, and personal strategies. Office based strategies include group humor, practical support and sharing experiences. Field based strategies include calming down the parent, enlisting the client, and distancing humor. Personal strategies include accentuating importance and blaming the parent. In the conclusion I summarize my research and discuss the finding that both novice and veteran child protective investigators use these strategies. I end with policy recommendations and I stress the importance of building a supportive professional community through further training.
author Howell, Aaron Christopher
author_facet Howell, Aaron Christopher
author_sort Howell, Aaron Christopher
title Protecting the Self: An Ethnographic Study of Emotion Management Among Child Protective Investigators
title_short Protecting the Self: An Ethnographic Study of Emotion Management Among Child Protective Investigators
title_full Protecting the Self: An Ethnographic Study of Emotion Management Among Child Protective Investigators
title_fullStr Protecting the Self: An Ethnographic Study of Emotion Management Among Child Protective Investigators
title_full_unstemmed Protecting the Self: An Ethnographic Study of Emotion Management Among Child Protective Investigators
title_sort protecting the self: an ethnographic study of emotion management among child protective investigators
publisher Scholar Commons
publishDate 2008
url https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/303
https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1302&context=etd
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