‘Not everybody can do this job’: a qualitative inquiry into emotional labour from RCMP detachment services assistants

Many police organisations employ and rely on public servants to complete specialised tasks with their organisations. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) regularly hires public servants known as Detachment Services Assistants (DSAs) to take on various support roles. As part of DSAs’ many clerica...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Jones, Mark (Author) ; Ricciardelli, Rose 1979- (Author) ; Norman, Mark Douglas (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2023
In: Policing and society
Year: 2023, Volume: 33, Issue: 8, Pages: 985-1003
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
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Keywords:
occupational stress injuries
Emotional labour
civilian staff
detachment services assistants
Description
Summary:Many police organisations employ and rely on public servants to complete specialised tasks with their organisations. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) regularly hires public servants known as Detachment Services Assistants (DSAs) to take on various support roles. As part of DSAs’ many clerical and administrative responsibilities, these workers must often perform emotional labour across different job tasks, which in turn, can be a personal yet occupationally mandated source of stress and strain. In the current study, we draw from semi-structured interviews with DSAs (n = 54) to investigate the different situations in which DSAs undertake emotional labour, the various styles of emotional labour DSAs perform, and the negative toll emotional labour places on DSAs in their workplace. Our research aims to contribute to the broader emotional labour literature on policing and the niche police literature on public servants, a form of civilian staff, employed by the RCMP.
ISSN:1477-2728
DOI:10.1080/10439463.2023.2218973