Emotional labour in social work practice and the production of shame
Carsten Schröder, author of this chapter, analyses the production of emotional atmospheres as a part of emotional labour. He argues that emotional labour, as work on their own emotions and the emotions of others, is an integral part of professional social work. He shows examples from a project in which he ethnographically observed social workers within a residential care home. His work focuses on how professional social workers create emotional atmospheres through emotional labour as a part of their interventions. In his example he focuses on the production of an emotional atmosphere that aims to reinforce a rule within the setting of the care home, in order to discipline the young residents. Carsten Schröder points out how harmful the experience of shame can be and raises therefore the question whether these interventions can still be viewed as professional interventions.