dirty work Flashcards
(28 cards)
definition of dirty work and Auther
Hughes (1951: 319) argued that ‘dirty’ jobs or tasks carry a stigma or taint such
that the people who perform such jobs in turn become stigmatised
Dirtiness is a social construct – not inherent in the work itself or the workers
themselves, but what society considers to be ‘dirty’.
1st dimension of dirty work
Physical taint – working with garbage, death, bodily functions, effluent
e.g butchers, funeral directors, mortuary workers, sewage workers,
pest controllers, nurses and care workers or, those who perform
their tasks under dangerous or noxious conditions e.g. soldiers
slaughtermen, fire-fighters.
2nd dimension
Social taint – involves working with groups
who are stigmatized - criminals, addicts,
disabled, homeless - e.g. drug counsellors,
prison guards, psychiatric carers.
Workers ‘may be tainted by the reflected
deficiencies of others’ – ‘courtesy stigma’
Socially tainted work can also involve
those engaged in work involving servile
relationships e.g janitors, butlers &
domestic workers.
Third taint
Moral Taint - includes elements that are
sinful or morally dubious by society.
Associated with tasks of ‘dubious virtue’
(e.g. sex workers, drug dealers,
pawnbroker, professional gambler)
Or practices that are ‘deceptive,
intrusive, confrontational, or that
otherwise defy norms of civility - such as
paparazzi, debt collectors, pay day ‘loan
sharks’.
Definition of 3 taints with Authers
Physical taint is a blemish on one’s
‘body’ and social taint is a blemish on
one’s relationships, moral taint is a
blemish on one’s character.
(Ashforth and Kreiner 2013: 84).
Emotional taint
Emotional dirt – expressed feelings that
threaten the solidarity, self-conception or
preferred orders of a given individual
or community (McMurray & Ward).
* Emotional dirty work - Involves dealing with emotions that are deemed out of place,
contextually inappropriate, burdensome or taboo e.g. sexual and domestic violence,
suicide.
* These emotions may be difficult and morally problematic for society to acknowledge.
* Emotional dirt was observed in the work of Samaritans
Physiological taint plus Author
‘Psychological taint can be seen as analogous to
physical taint in the sense that psychological
functions of the body are harmed through the work
to such an extent that it provokes a social judgment
that the work is below standards of social
acceptability in the eyes of insiders and/or outsiders’
(Bouwmeester et al 2022: 415)
Time and place ( Auther)
As ‘stigma’ is a social construct time & place is significant - taints evolve and
change over time and vary across different cultures
Stanley et al (2014) highlight how during the GFC the media coverage constructed
the values and behaviours of investment bankers, rather than the tasks of their
occupation, as morally tainted ‘dirty workers’. Wealth considered excessive; not
earned; and because they are selfish and materialist
Reframing
Ashforth & Kreiner (1999)
Transforms the meaning attached to the stigmatised occupation such that the
stigma is infused with a positive value by emphasising how the work is done or
the ends (the purpose) of the job
Reframing enables the stigmatised properties of the work to be reframed with positive value – so that job
roles emphasise more admirable qualities in two ways:-
a) How the work is done – emphasise special qualities and unique skills e.g. heroism
of fire-fighters who have to deal with dangerous incidents (Tracy & Scott 2006)
Wound nurses emphasize the emotion management skills of working with clients
with physically repellent smells by reassuring patients and calming them – so as
to remain professional & ensure dignity (Galazka & Jenkins 2024)
Recalibrating
xaggerating, retelling and reliving positive job attributes
to justify how important their tasks are to social and organisational goals.
E.g. HCA who emphasise their contribution with pride & moral authority over
other providers in the medical community.
Refocusing
down-play stigmatised features of work to focus on
the non-stigmatised features
E.g. public defenders refocus on ‘winning the case’, street cleaners who
have the freedom to work outside with autonomy, funeral directors –
emphasise pay
* Some groups engage in all 3 techniques to manage stigma.
* Out of all the 3Rs – reframing is considered the most powerful.
* To be effective strategies require an occupational group & culture
to exercise their agency & power.
Satisfaction and dignity in dirty work
Cleaners of abandoned social or public housing apartments in high crime areas in the UK and the USA
* Physically tainted - dealing with grime and waste and characterised by working conditions that are both dangerous and
noxious.
* Reframing to emphasise ‘admirable qualities’ - strength and endurance, the danger of the work and of the social worth
of keeping the community clean and safe.
* Job features - reinforced the positive view of this work including the degree of group work
autonomy, supportive and solidaristic co-worker relationships and job variety.
* Masculine occupational culture - reinforced positive dimensions of dirty work - heroism
and honour to enhance their prestige.
* Situational factors –the conditions of work & its context helped shape job satisfaction.
* Agency - workers are not passive recipients of their environment - mould the relational
and job context to enhance greater satisfaction from the work & buffer the groups from ‘dirt’.
Why are fire fighters becoming more stigamatised (Auther)
(Tracy and Scott, 2006)
Fire-fighting is considered a dirty occupation because of both the physical
nature of the work, dealing with bodies and the danger of the work.
- As construction standards increased over time – fires became more rare.
- Less than 10% of emergency calls relate to fire.
- From the 1970s, urban American fire departments began taking over EMS (emergency medical
services) such as transporting people to hospital and engaging in routine medical work. - A large part of their clients were homeless people and addicts (socially stigmatized groups) – who
referred to in derogatory ways. - EMS – is the largest part of fire-fighters duties - this work was infused with stereotypical feminised
qualities of caring.
How fire fighters overcame stigma (auther)
Tracy and Scott 2006
Despite the shift in duties – the occupational culture drew on the heroism of
fire-fighting to reframe away from the taint of EMS duties
* Firefighter stories were dominated by firefighting – to talk up toughness, danger
and heroism.
* Engaged in sexualized banter to highlight male excess and hypermasculine
action for an appreciative internal audience of peers.
* The culture attempted to develop a sense of being strong, fun, and in control which framed their work as valorous and
important.
* Through continual talk about firefighting, they were able to emphasize heroic masculine work and appreciate a spill-over effect
that moderated the dirt of lower status feminized duties.
* Their macho status was also endorsed by the public and they enjoyed a public audience that reaffirmed their prestige especially
since 9/11.
Correction officers
Physically & socially dirty work - including performing welfare checks as well as comforting
inmates.
* Conditions of work - often derided as being ‘glorified maids’ – feminised connotations
* Low occupational prestige - society questions the value and morality of features of this work
– cruel & sadistic
* Limited opportunities to develop an occupational culture based on heroism and a badge of honour
* Refocusing – overlooked stigmatizing work feature to instead emphasise salary, retirement benefits, and flexible
work schedules which allowed them to refocus on “real interests”— such as running an outside business, spending
time with family, or attending graduate school.
* The content & the context of work constrained abilities to ‘talk-up’ their worth and value.
Differences between Firefighters and correction officers
Physically & socially dirty work - including performing welfare checks as well as comforting
inmates.
* Conditions of work - often derided as being ‘glorified maids’ – feminised connotations
* Low occupational prestige - society questions the value and morality of features of this work
– cruel & sadistic
* Limited opportunities to develop an occupational culture based on heroism and a badge of honour
* Refocusing – overlooked stigmatizing work feature to instead emphasise salary, retirement benefits, and flexible
work schedules which allowed them to refocus on “real interests”— such as running an outside business, spending
time with family, or attending graduate school.
* The content & the context of work constrained abilities to ‘talk-up’ their worth and value.
EXOTIC DANCER (Auther)
- (Mavin & Grandy 2013)
- The exotic dancers – content of work is feminised and morally tainted
- Stigma much more difficult to manage in relation to moral taint – main tactic was
social weighting. - Gender was a feature in the way the dancers engaged in social comparing to insulate some
of them from the harsher perceptions of this work. - Distinctions between different groups – career dancers were perceived as ‘bad girls’ and
viewed less favourably - Temporary exotic dancing were legitimated as ‘good girls’ - positioned themselves as superior to the ‘lifer’ - highlighted
their ambition, drive and business-like approach to the work often associated with masculinity. - Through social comparison the temp dancers distanced themselves from the stigma attached to their work and reposition
themselves favourably. - Despite these strategies, there were clear constraints posed by the content and context of this work to successfully
overcome the taint of morally dirty work.
Social care
Work often combines physically dirty features – such as the bodywork involved in
intimate care as well as in some cases, working with stigmatized client groups – such as mentally
and physically disabled.
* Stacey’s (2005) study of homecare workers attending to dependent adults in the US – noted how they constructed a
sense of dignity by emphasizing how their work “directly impacts on the wellbeing of their clients”.
a) Reframing - rather than downplaying the stigma of dirty work they emphasised the importance of their work
based on the ‘purpose of their job’ to improve the lives of their clients
b) Recalibrating – emphasising the importance of their work compared to other medical occupations.
* Study demonstrated the significance of not just the occupational group in stigma management but also clients.
Here the conditions of work based on close relations with clients helped to diminish the stigma and support positive
esteem.
Social care UK
Galazka & Jenkins’s (2024) study of wound care nurses and social care workers in the UK
Reframing strategies - a) ‘How the work is done”
Social care workers – emphasised the complex EM skills – to do physical body work
& deal with socially stigmatized clients.
I’d worked with him for twelve years, and he was extremely challenging. Extremely
challenging, physically violent, you know? But we built up a relationship…
I got to learn his triggers, what would set the behaviours off…I could see when he was
coming off baseline, you know? I could see; I could tell; I could feel it. (Phil)
Social care workers - through in-depth relational work they managed the emotions of their
clients to reduce their social stigma & also adopted an advocacy role to resist the social stigma
clients’ encountered.
He could never leave his flat, years ago. He’s got challenging behaviour and he would be at least
four times a day and he wouldn’t socialise, he wouldn’t talk to anybody…Now, he can go out and about and he loves going
out and very rarely has challenging behaviour now. It’s the way we supported him then doing little bits at a time and we
could see the improvement coming on…He has a much more sociable existence than he used to…That’s the real reward of
the job. (Zoe)
Nurses
Wound nurses – emphasised the EM skills required to deal with ‘cleaning’ physically
dirty wounds. Professional identity.
You’ve got to learn not to show. You can’t stand there wincing. You’ve got to stand
there and reassure…are you comfortable?…You can’t give any cues away as to how awful
you think it is. (Catherine)
Wound nurses – emphasised their medical and professional EM skills to deliver health
related quality of life outcomes for their clients – help reduce their stigma through reassurance
and support:-
I try and refocus…Sometimes when the patient is just too physically ill…you have to accept that [the wound]’s not a
priority…But I always try and look for some positive steps for me and the patient. So, if I can stop the smell, if I can contain
the exudate, if I can relieve the pain, if I can prevent wound infection, I can feel like I’m doing something that contributes
to their well-being even if their healing is never going to be an option. (Christina
Summery of Nurses and care workers
Wound nurses – drew on their ‘status shield’ (Hochschild 1983) as medical professionals to manage stigma
* Care workers - struggled to gain social affirmation from their work because they were aware that this work was not recognised as
valuable by society.
* Gender relations are significant for stigma management strategies – however, emphasising their special EM skills in dealing with the
physical material of dirt and socially stigmatized clients – was more successful for the wound clinicians.
* Social care workers – perceived as low skilled and low paid work, despite skills
* Female workers not able to benefit from femininity in the same way of men are able to benefit from the status of masculinity
* Two cases demonstrate importance of appreciating the role of clients in dirty work and the power of social values to infer status
which are not easy to overcome through stigma management.
Butchers
– Simpson et al (2014)
* Butchery associated with physically dirty work
* Changes in the nature of work due to health regulations mean meat is processed offsite
* Means that some of the devices used to neutralize the stigma (Ackroyd & Crowdy 1999)
are no longer feasible - including the ‘dirt’ associated with this work.
* As masculine attributes are diminishing butchers mourn the loss of their skills and the dirt associated with this work.
* Unable to reframe this work based on strength and stamina - the butchers engaged
social weighting - socially comparing their skills favourably to those of supermarket butchers
who were derided.
* The butchers see themselves as a higher status able to provide a higher quality product –
but the conditions of work constrain their ability to manage the stigma of their work
Example of moral taint
ALL CENTRE WORKERS (Jenkins & Delbridge 2017)
* Staff required to lie as part of their work – danger of morally dirty work.
* Both the organization and employees engaged in rationalizing techniques to
neutralize the moral taint of lying behaviour & normalise deception
* Managers supported this in various ways to reframe lying as a positive feature of work:-
Lying was not directly enforced by management but part of the overall value system as workers were ‘trusted to
deceive’.
Lying legitimated by referring to a ‘higher loyalty’ – high quality and professional customer care.
Becoming proficient at lying was an important dimension in gaining status in a cohesive workplace culture -
receptionists considered themselves as skilful and ‘professional’ & this was reinforced by the cohesive and strong team
relations.
* The organizational context played a crucial role in providing an enabling environment which reinforced deception as a
positive work feature and imbued a high status on workers that were good at lying, thus overcoming any stigma
associated with this work.
Case study that shows not help from avoiding stigma
he study of cleaners in Pakistan examines the experiences of dirty workers
in the Global South
* There was no evidence of sanitation cleaners being able to reframe, refocus or
recalibrate their work to manage their stigma
* Sanitation cleaners do not show occupational pride associated with physically dirty workers in low prestige work.
* They hope to get a better, more culturally recognized job that does not involve cleaning
* Workers’ agency is constrained considerably by gender and class relations as well as informed by cultural and religious
values – caste system
* Dirty workers do not have the agentic resources required to clean their reputations or affirm their dignity by recasting
their identity in the self-affirming ways that workers in Global North contexts have reportedly been able to do.
