Professional Emotions in Court

Professional Emotions in Court examines the paramount role of emotions in the legal professions and in the functioning of the democratic judicial system. Based on extensive interview and observation data in Sweden, the authors highlight the silenced background emotions and the tacitly habituated emotion management in the daily work at courts and prosecution offices. Following participants ‘backstage’ – whether at the office or at lunch – in order to observe preparations for and reflections on the performance in court itself, this book sheds light on the emotionality of courtroom interactions, such as professional collaboration, negotiations, and challenges, with the analysis of micro-interactions being situated in the broader structural regime of the legal system – the emotive-cognitive judicial frame – throughout. A demonstration of the false dichotomy between emotion and reason that lies behind the assumption of a judicial system that operates rationally and without emotion, Professional Emotions in Court reveals how this assumption shapes professionals’ perceptions and performance of their work, but hampers emotional reflexivity, and questions whether the judicial system might gain in legitimacy if the role of emotional processes were recognized and reflected upon

Professional Emotions in Court

Professional Emotions in Court examines the paramount role of emotions in the legal professions and in the functioning of the democratic judicial system. Based on extensive interview and observation data in Sweden, the authors highlight the silenced background emotions and the tacitly habituated emotion management in the daily work at courts and prosecution offices. Following participants ‘backstage’ – whether at the office or at lunch – in order to observe preparations for and reflections on the performance in court itself, this book sheds light on the emotionality of courtroom interactions, such as professional collaboration, negotiations, and challenges, with the analysis of micro-interactions being situated in the broader structural regime of the legal system – the emotive-cognitive judicial frame – throughout. A demonstration of the false dichotomy between emotion and reason that lies behind the assumption of a judicial system that operates rationally and without emotion, Professional Emotions in Court reveals how this assumption shapes professionals’ perceptions and performance of their work, but hampers emotional reflexivity, and questions whether the judicial system might gain in legitimacy if the role of emotional processes were recognized and reflected upon

Observing judicial work and emotions: using two researchers

Author version made available in accordance with publisher policy.Observation is an important component of research to examine complex social settings and is well-established for studying courtroom dynamics and judicial behaviour. However, the many activities occurring at once and the multiple participants, lay and professional, make it impossible for a sole researcher to observe and understand everything occurring in the courtroom. This article reports on the use of two researchers to undertake court observations, in two different studies, each nested in a different research design. The social nature of data collection and the value of dialogue between the two researchers in interpreting observed events, especially when studying emotion, are readily apparent in both studiesFunding for the Australian research includes: a 2001 University–Industry Research Collaborative Grant with Flinders University and the Association of Australian Magistrates (AAM) and financial support from the Australasian Institute of Judicial Administration (AIJA); an Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Project Grant (LP0210306) with AAM and all magistrates courts; and two ARC Discovery Project Grants (DP0665198, DP1096888). The Swedish Research is funded by the Swedish Research Council (2011-1553) and the Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare (2011-0671)

Prevention of urinary tract infections in nursing homes: lack of evidence-based prescription?

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Urinary tract infections (UTIs, including upper and lower symptomatic) are the most common infections in nursing homes and prevention may reduce patient suffering, antibiotic use and resistance. The spectre of agents used in preventing UTIs in nursing homes is scarcely documented and the aim of this study was to explore which agents are prescribed for this purpose.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We conducted a one-day, point-prevalence study in 44 Norwegian nursing homes during April-May 2006. Nursing home residents prescribed any agent for UTI prophylaxis were included. Information recorded was type of agent and dose, patient age and gender, together with nursing home characteristics. Appropriateness of prophylactic prescribing was evaluated with references to evidence in the literature and current national guidelines.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The study included 1473 residents. 18% (n = 269) of the residents had at least one agent recorded as prophylaxis of UTI, varying between 0-50% among the nursing homes. Methenamine was used by 48% of residents prescribed prophylaxis, vitamin C by 32%, and cranberry products by 10%. Estrogens were used by 30% but only one third was for vaginal administration. Trimethoprim and nitrofurantoin were used as prophylaxis by 5% and 4%, respectively.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The agents frequently prescribed to prevent UTIs in Norwegian nursing homes lack documented efficacy including methenamine and vitamin C. Recommended agents like trimethoprim, nitrofurantoin and vaginal estrogens are infrequently used. We conclude that prescribing of prophylactic agents for UTIs in nursing homes is not evidence-based.</p

From snapshots of practice to a movie:Researching long-term social work and child protection by getting as close as possible to practice and organisational life

Research into social work and child protection has begun to observe practice to find out what social workers actually do, however no such ethnographic research has been done into long-term practice. This paper outlines and analyses the methods used in a study of long-term social work and child protection practice. Researchers spent 15 months embedded in two social work departments observing organisational practices, culture, and staff supervision. We also regularly observed social worker’s encounters with children and families in a sample of 30 cases for up to a year, doing up to 21 observations of practice in the same cases. Family members were also interviewed up to three times during that time. The paper argues that a methodology that gets as close as possible to practitioners and managers as they are doing the work and that takes a longitudinal approach can provide deep insights into what social work practice is, how helpful relationships with service users are established and sustained over time, or not, and the influence of organizations. The challenges and ethical dilemmas involved in doing long term research that gets so close to social work teams, casework and service users for at least a year are considered

Stage Actors and Emotions at Work

We examine the distinctions between ‘playing’ and ‘playing at’ and between deep and surface acting made by Goffman and Hochschild, using examples from stage-rehearsals. This reveals how stage actors switch between these modes and employ various manifestations, rather than using either of them exclusively. The findings are thought to have conceptual implications beyond the particular case of stage acting. One tentative conclusion is that the difference between an actor rehearsing an emotion-laden situation and experiencing a similar situation in real life lies in how the situation is confronted and handled rather than in the actual emotions

Professional emotion management as a rehearsal process

The work of stage actors has long been used as a simile for every day role playing, generating theoretical concepts to describe how people work to pre-sent themselves in general and how they manage their emotions in particular. Building on this tradition, this article analyses professional stage actors’ deliberate emotion management as an embodied professionalisation process, focusing the relation between emotional experience and expression through the concepts of decoupling, double agency and habituation. Observations and interviews with thea-tre actors rehearsing for a role revealed how they gradually develop a capacity for double agency, decoupling the experience from the expression of emotions, which are eventually habituated in a form adapted to the role character. This process of professionalising emotion management is beneficial to the presentation of role-appropriate emotions and furthers the ability to cope with the endeavour of manag-ing emotions at work. Implications for professions outside the artistic domain are discussed

Emotional Participation : the use of the observer’s emotions as a methodological tool when studying professional stage actors rehearsing a role for the stage

This contribution aims to identify and clarify emotional aspects of conducting observation studies. The researcher, in most cases, does not want to interfere with or influence the phenomenon under observation, but uses her/himself as a tool to collect material. Even if the observer does not participate verbally, s/he can be emotionally participative using her/his emotions as a methodological tool, generating reflections and insights relative to the situations and persons that are the object of observation. Earlier contributions from social anthropology and psychotherapy are discussed and compared to examples from observations on the rehearsals of two theatre productions. One crucial point is that the researcher’s emotions can be more or less congruent with the situation at hand; a match as well as a mis-match can be used as information in the research process. Furthermore, the emotional expressions displayed by professional actors can be more or less emotionally anchored within them. Do the observer’s feelings correlate with the research subjects’ felt emotions or their portrayed emotions? Reflections on these issues can be used in interviews with research subjects to attain a more nuanced and tangible interpretation of the studied phenomenon

Uppmärksamma kroppar : närhet, avstånd och rörelse på och utanför scenen

Det här kapitlet tar avstamp i en av dessa händelser ’från fältet’, i detta fall en teater, som hänger sig kvar många år efteråt men som inte använts eftersom den innehåller för många trådar: lite om metod, lite om etik, mycket om kroppar och om närvaro och om kön om man vill. Händelsen börjar i ett misstag som jag utnyttjar men sen får betala för och som väckte känslor både hos mig och hos den jag mötte. Jag försöker här reda ut hur olika ingångar och upplevelser av denna händelse kan ge pusselbitar till att förstå kroppar i samspel. Som etnografiskt sinnade forskare försöker vi komma nära för att se ur någon annans perspektiv. Vi blir kanske avvisade, får gå därifrån, betrakta på avstånd eller komma tillbaka in i värmen och vara med. Vi vet att vår position påverkar vad vi ser, men vi tar ofta inte med positionerna mellan kropparna på fältet i våra analyser. Jag menar inte positioner som statiska entiteter, utan som dynamiska relationer som ändrar balansen i möten och som skapar handlingsmöjligheter och begränsningar och som kan få symboliska betydelser och därmed cementera relationer