Emotional labour tug of war: an exploration of emotional expectations of family law practitioners

Emotional labour conflict is defined in this study as the conflict one may perceive when he or she is expected to display conflicting or competing emotions to various stakeholders. Family law practitioners may potentially experience a tension in displaying the appropriate emotion especially in relation to complying with expected professional display rules, expected organisational display rules, and the expected informal client display rules. There is a dearth of research relating to emotional labour conflict which is informed by the contradictions of rationalities theory. To add to knowledge in this area of study, I explored the influence of emotional labour conflict among family law practitioners. A phenomenological study was conducted to understand and interpret family law practitioners' workplace experiences. The research design was underpinned by three socio-cultural theories namely dramaturgical theory, social identity theory, and communities of coping theory. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews among 10 family law practitioners defined as paralegals, solicitors, and partners. Thematic analysis formed the basis of data analysis. Initial findings of the study revealed that family law practitioners did perceive emotional labour conflict in their roles. Further, family law practitioners all indicated that being able to participate in communities of coping enabled them to deal with any tensions created by emotional labour conflict.