10. Dirty Work - Lecture notes 8 PDF

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Dirty Work – Lecture 10

INTRODUCTION AND DEFINITIONS: -

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dirty work is generally understood to be work that is degrading or disgusting in some way: physically, socially or morally tainted (Hughes, 1958) - Undesirable taint = a trace of a bad or undesirable substance or quality, which results in contamination or the perception of contamination those who perform dirty work are equated with the work; they are regarded as ‘dirty workers’ who are stigmatised in the same way as the work they perform (Ashforth and Kreiner, 1999; Rozin et al., 2000) – those who do the job are stigmatised for the job  thought of as mattering less, less than wholly human stigma an ‘attribute that is deeply discrediting’ and that reduces the bearer ‘from a whole and usual person to a tainted, discounted one’ (Goffman, 1963:3) stigma ‘is a characteristic of persons that is contrary to a norm of a social unit’ (Stafford and Scott, 1986:80) Goffman - stigma is the relationship between an attribute and a stereotype; a result of labelling ‘stigmatized individuals possess (or are believed to possess) some attribute, or characteristic, that conveys a social identity that is devalued in a particular social context’ (Crocker et al., 1998:505)

CONSIDERATIONS: -

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dirty work refers to occupational activities that are physically disgusting, symbolise degradation, wound the individual’s dignity or ‘run counter to the more heroic of our moral conceptions’ (Hughes, 1958:50) – dirty in comparison to other jobs, places, time denotes a ‘real’, objective, collective moral view on dirt  objective view – always dirty alternatively, Mary Douglas (1966) considered dirt as ‘matter out of place’ and as ‘disorder’ within a system of cultural and moral norms  changing view – depends on time and place dirt is socially constructed, discursive, shifting in time and place, and from the perspective of the beholder  label everyone who does that type of job – assumes they are less than whole

WORK ROLES: -

physical stigma - literal dirt - refuse, bodily fluids, ‘muck’ - - funeral director (death), soldiers (danger), sewer workers (effluent) social status - lower and higher - often higher to lower social stigma - prison officers (deal with tainted others), nursing (some), and waiting staff (servile) moral stigma - used car salesperson (deceptive), sex workers / exotic / lap dancers (sinful), debt / bill collector (uncivil), nursing (some), scientists (?) also, tasks within roles can be dirty (e.g. in mgmt.?) involves how you behave with you and your ‘customer’ e.g. mental health nurses vs physical health nurses

DIRTY WORK – A NECESSARY EVIL?: -

heuristics, categorising and labelling of roles and people, often results in clean = good, dirty = bad physical and social dirty work - more necessary than evil? moral dirty work - more evil than necessary? moral taint is more stigmatising yet, stigmatised and respected - examples? external influences - shifts - examples?

INTERACTIONS OF STIGMA/TAINT:

MANAGEMENT: -

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‘dirty workers’ use a variety of techniques to protect their identities from the threats posed by the stigma of their work  e.g. if a customer is rude, act by doing this … - change how the argument works and take back control o But it is easy to be rational and say this, but more difficult to do in practice work-group culture functions as effective buffer, providing ideologies that enable group members to make sense of their work in esteem-enhancing ways (Ashforth and Kreiner, 1999) Ashforth and Kreiner (1999:431) argue that managers of dirty workers have a role in countering ‘societal perceptions of dirtiness through the practices of symbolic management’ ‘management’ view - stresses cognition

MANAGEMENT – CHALLENGE AND TACTIC: -

recruitment and selection - you can fit o difficult applicants (different for high prestige) - affinity for the work - ‘get it’  e.g. I have been there so I get it … o provide realistic stigma preview: o shadowing o informing – talk through the job, don’t pretend its not difficult o videos o audition

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training (safety etc.)

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socialisation - you are fitting o difference between intellectual understanding and visceral understanding o person-job fit - acknowledge issues o if long time in role, ask relative newcomer o strip away preconceptions - air and discuss bias - self and other - e.g. debt collectors, prison guards o highlight importance of work - ideology and periodic affirmation o habitation or immersion? (immersion with caution, and support)  habitation  gets progressively worse as you continue in the job  immersion  thrown in at the deep end

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ongoing engagement - you still fit o commitment wavers, especially if family, friends, others start (or continue) to view work negatively o hangover effect plus stigma effect o foster social validation and support o help to manage external relationships - act contrary to occupation’s stereotype, keep low profile in public, training on how to deal with attention, e.g. media or other o create a boundary between frontstage and backstage e.g. staff room to let off steam

MANAGEMENT OVER TIME:

ROLE OF/FOR MANAGEMENT?: -

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Ackroyd and Crowdy (1990) argue that the meanings that individuals ascribe to their work tasks interact with class, regional/national cultures etc. - rendering ‘dirty’ work beyond managerial influence e.g. occupation’s raison d’être - curing, arresting etc. meaning making, sense-making - individual  know it is challenging, people find ways that it has become more challenging and complain about it to others dirt is a matter of perspective, not empirics complexity in the ascription of ‘dirty work’ to roles or tasks - need to consider who, why, when and where workers are 1) consciously aware of taint and 2) driven to account for it

SELF-MANAGEMENT: -

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funeral directors resist stigma by suggesting the public are ‘in denial’ and ignorant about death - transforming ‘the stigma of their chosen occupational identity into a mark of honour’ (Cahill, 1996:114) also, front and back stage - death humour  remind themselves of the important stuff and recognise others have it worse medical students - ‘scut work’ - ‘othering’ non core work - instead, diagnosis and treatment (Becker et al., 1961) home care - emotion work, not physical (Stacey, 2006)  emotional work is key, make the person feel whole, not embarrassed etc – takes a lot of skill compared to other boring jobs street cleaners, refuse collectors - perceptual reordering dirt (within limits), flow of dirt, ideological - ‘you’ve got to have a thick skin to be out in all weathers … and a very thick skin to deal with the public’ (Hughes et al., 2016)

Hardy and Sanders (2014) lap dancers UK - Lit. notes - deviant occupation-> labour market decision - money -

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½ also other work, for migrant dancers more likely only work. Students, offset debt - neoliberalisation of HE. Other - poor working conditions elsewhere, lack of alternatives or role offers flexibility rather than ‘career’ or a ‘dead end’ job, many use lap dancing strategically to create alternative futures of work, employment and education, but issues of trapped (gap work history), stigma, and relatively high income ‘motivations’ lap dancing against wider political economy of work, including migrant status, cost of education, falling opportunities in labour market

Benoit et al., (2017) - Canada, M&Ws decision - sex work. Contrast - street based, indoor work, parlour based -

SW not often considered choice, but structure (childhood victimisation, neglect, isolation, poverty) and agency (migrant workers, students and middle classes) exist 1/3 critical life event - abuse, estrangement -> money of all workers, SW highest risk of violent crime. 1990-2016 - 110 people murdered, 85 street based workers since 2011, more indoor SW murdered - ‘marketing’ from street to internet, working alone. Also, increase in proportion of migrant women murdered (trafficking) prosecution rate increased, but because marginalised and partial citizens remains significant challenge Link Link 2

Simpson et al., (2014) - butchers - men - UK -

dirty work - unpleasant sights, smells, sensations working-class men - manual work - recognition and respect - honest, hard-work - dignity, moral worth men made ‘dirty work’ less dirty by emphasizing: physicality of work - difficult and hard work; skilled, unlike many non-skilled manufacturing jobs; distinctive - membership of a shared and ‘authentic’ trade...