‘Pushed from above and pushed from below’: emotional labour and dual identities amongst senior probation officers in England and Wales

WESTABY, Chalen, PHILLIPS, Jake, FOWLER, Andrew and AINSLIE, Samantha (2022). ‘Pushed from above and pushed from below’: emotional labour and dual identities amongst senior probation officers in England and Wales. European Journal of Probation.

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Abstract

Senior Probation Officers (SPO) in England and Wales work at the ‘front and centre’ of the organisation’s hierarchy. They act as both manager and developer of frontline probation practitioners. Previous research has focused on the emotional labour undertaken by probation practitioners yet there is very little research on the emotional labour of SPOs, even though they must be skilful emotion managers of their own emotions and those they supervise. This research not only sheds light on an important, and yet hugely under researched section of probation practice, it is also highly relevant to other countries both within Europe and internationally. This is because the work undertaken by frontline managers in probation around the world is connected by the increasing expectation that they both mange and yet at the same time develop the frontline practitioners they supervise. Using data gathered from interviews with 28 SPOs and managers across England and Wales we analyse how SPOs’ emotions are ‘controlled’ by senior management, and how SPOs ‘control’ the emotions of frontline workers they supervise. SPOs attempts at managing emotions are resisted by their supervisees, and SPOs resist the emotional displays they are expected to present in their work role. We conclude by considering the impact of emotional labour on SPOs and how best to support them in their role.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	1602 Criminology
Identification Number:	https://doi.org/10.1177/20662203221144119
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Elements
Depositing User:	Symplectic Elements
Date Deposited:	07 Nov 2022 15:23
Last Modified:	15 Dec 2022 11:55
URI:	https://shura.shu.ac.uk/id/eprint/30993

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