Emotional labor and crisis response : working on the razor's edge / Sharon H. Mastracci, Mary E. Guy, Meredith A. Newman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Mastracci, Sharon H., 1968-

Contributor:

Guy, Mary E. (Mary Ellen)

Newman, Meredith A., 1949-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Public service employment--United States--Psychological aspects.

Public service employment.

Crisis management--United States.

Crisis management.

Psychological aspects.

United States.

Physical Description:

xvii, 173 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Armonk, N.Y. : M.E. Sharpe, [2012]

Summary:

In public administration, rationality is prioritized over emotions, but Mastracci (human resources, U. of Illinois, Chicago), Guy (public administration, U. of Denver, Colorado), and Newman (public administration, Florida International U.) argue against this view, building off of ten years of research into the way that emotions form an important interface for virtually all public service occupations. They refer to emotional labor as the inner work of bringing out and holding back appropriate and inappropriate emotions in the course of stimulating or stifling emotions in others. This becomes most important in crises, where strong emotions are to be expected and managing them becomes part of what it means to serve others in those situations. These situations, though not exhaustive of where emotional labor is done, are ripe for examining what emotional labor is and how people go about doing it, the blind-spots in administrative theories, hiring people with emotional labor in mind, communicating competence while cultivating trust, how public workers handle blame, the role of gender in how emotional labor is done and received, and professional norms. Two appendixes offer protocols for interviews and an account of the evidence used in the text. Annotation ©2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Contents:

Emotional labor as public good and the state as harbor of refuge

A blind spot in public administration theory

but not in practice

Human capital issues

Communicating competence and cultivating trust

Who gets the blame? Who gets the credit? Government responsiveness and accountability

Of the people : legitimacy, representativeness, and the difference that gender makes

Professional standards and discretion in crisis response

Reflections on the why, how, and what of emotional labor.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780765625182

0765625180

OCLC:

704243755