Current theoretical conceptualizations of compassion say little about communicating compassion to... more Current theoretical conceptualizations of compassion say little about communicating compassion to people whose suffering is wrapped in a cloak of anger, threat, resistance, and fear. This article attends directly to this issue by examining the conversational particulars of compassion communicated by school bookkeeper Antoinette Tuff to would-be school shooter Michael Hill. The case serves as the basis for advancing propositions about communicating compassion to unwilling recipients and suggests the importance of careful conversational timing, face- enhancement strategies, convergence/mirroring techniques, co- creating hope, physical presence, and vulnerable self-disclosure. The case extends current conceptualizations of compassion and provides a vivid picture for enacting compassion when sufferers are angry, threatening, or resisting help.
This essay chronicles a tale of personal and academic transformation triggered by the rich mentor... more This essay chronicles a tale of personal and academic transformation triggered by the rich mentoring spirit of Bud Goodall. Bud encouraged me discover how a research project on male executives and work-life balance was intricately intertwined with my familial and personal experiences. The essay describes a “Second Spring”—a period of reawakening after the full cycle of ethnographic seasons in which researchers identify blind spots in their scholarship and ways of being. In this Second Spring, I find myself transforming my commitments to gender equity from a place of evidence collection and self-righteous upset to a place of dialogic conversation and choice.
High reliability organization (HRO) theory suggests that early detection of and swift responses t... more High reliability organization (HRO) theory suggests that early detection of and swift responses to potentially hazardous and situation changing events in organizational environments is central to the sustainability of reliable operations. Limited research on HRO’s (e.g. military groups and firefighters) considers how normative demands on feeling and emotion help to explain why some events are recognized and responded to while others not. In this article, we propose a model of enactment of anomalous events (i.e., situation changing events) that considers the manner in which emotions are regulated in high reliability contexts and how this influences the extent to which early indicators of anomalous events are heeded or dismissed. In this article, we seek to provide a theoretical framework for explaining both the enabling mechanisms by which emotions may function as a signaling resource in the detection of anomalous events and the constraining mechanisms through when emotion regulation processes may inhibit reliability. We discuss implications of the model for researchers and practitioners in high reliability organizations.
Page 1. assessing communication in practice. Finally, the axioms can be used as a frame for recom... more Page 1. assessing communication in practice. Finally, the axioms can be used as a frame for recommending, reinforcing, or teaching (Condit, 2009) communication behaviors. Conclusion In conclusion, our alternative question ...
... Such messages help to explain enduring assumptions about who should work, who should stayhome... more ... Such messages help to explain enduring assumptions about who should work, who should stayhome, who needs work-life policies, and why. Is Women's Work a Choice? Examining Why Women Work ... Two said they would personally be happy to stay home as a house-dad. ...
Drawing from qualitative data gathered at two correctional facilities, this paper empirically ill... more Drawing from qualitative data gathered at two correctional facilities, this paper empirically illustrates employee reactions to organizational contradictions in a total institution and advances a theoretical model positing that organizational tensions may be framed as complementary dialectics, ...
... Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Sarah J. Tracy, Department of C... more ... Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Sarah J. Tracy, Department of Communication, CB270, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309. Electronic mail may be sent to sarah.tracy@ucsub.colorado.edu. Page 2. 391 JACR NOVEMBER 1998 ...
... In this article, we focus on the flip side: instances in which call-takers Karen Tracy (Ph.D.... more ... In this article, we focus on the flip side: instances in which call-takers Karen Tracy (Ph.D., University of Wisconsin, 1981) is a professor and Sarah]. Tracy is a doctoral student in the Communication Department at the University of Colorado, Boulder. ...
Using qualitative data gathered among correctional officers and a post-structuralist theoretical ... more Using qualitative data gathered among correctional officers and a post-structuralist theoretical lens, this study suggests that emotion labor*/the instrumental use and suppression of emotion*/is more difficult when societal discourses and organizational processes limit employees' ability to maintain preferred understandings of identity. The paper provides rich description of the complex web of emotion norms faced by correctional officers and then makes
Based on qualitative field and interview data, this comparative analysis of dirty work by firefig... more Based on qualitative field and interview data, this comparative analysis of dirty work by firefighters and correctional officers demonstrates that taint management and its relative utility is inextricably bound to and embedded within macro-level discourses. While firefighters labor to fulfill ...
Current theoretical conceptualizations of compassion say little about communicating compassion to... more Current theoretical conceptualizations of compassion say little about communicating compassion to people whose suffering is wrapped in a cloak of anger, threat, resistance, and fear. This article attends directly to this issue by examining the conversational particulars of compassion communicated by school bookkeeper Antoinette Tuff to would-be school shooter Michael Hill. The case serves as the basis for advancing propositions about communicating compassion to unwilling recipients and suggests the importance of careful conversational timing, face- enhancement strategies, convergence/mirroring techniques, co- creating hope, physical presence, and vulnerable self-disclosure. The case extends current conceptualizations of compassion and provides a vivid picture for enacting compassion when sufferers are angry, threatening, or resisting help.
This essay chronicles a tale of personal and academic transformation triggered by the rich mentor... more This essay chronicles a tale of personal and academic transformation triggered by the rich mentoring spirit of Bud Goodall. Bud encouraged me discover how a research project on male executives and work-life balance was intricately intertwined with my familial and personal experiences. The essay describes a “Second Spring”—a period of reawakening after the full cycle of ethnographic seasons in which researchers identify blind spots in their scholarship and ways of being. In this Second Spring, I find myself transforming my commitments to gender equity from a place of evidence collection and self-righteous upset to a place of dialogic conversation and choice.
High reliability organization (HRO) theory suggests that early detection of and swift responses t... more High reliability organization (HRO) theory suggests that early detection of and swift responses to potentially hazardous and situation changing events in organizational environments is central to the sustainability of reliable operations. Limited research on HRO’s (e.g. military groups and firefighters) considers how normative demands on feeling and emotion help to explain why some events are recognized and responded to while others not. In this article, we propose a model of enactment of anomalous events (i.e., situation changing events) that considers the manner in which emotions are regulated in high reliability contexts and how this influences the extent to which early indicators of anomalous events are heeded or dismissed. In this article, we seek to provide a theoretical framework for explaining both the enabling mechanisms by which emotions may function as a signaling resource in the detection of anomalous events and the constraining mechanisms through when emotion regulation processes may inhibit reliability. We discuss implications of the model for researchers and practitioners in high reliability organizations.
Page 1. assessing communication in practice. Finally, the axioms can be used as a frame for recom... more Page 1. assessing communication in practice. Finally, the axioms can be used as a frame for recommending, reinforcing, or teaching (Condit, 2009) communication behaviors. Conclusion In conclusion, our alternative question ...
... Such messages help to explain enduring assumptions about who should work, who should stayhome... more ... Such messages help to explain enduring assumptions about who should work, who should stayhome, who needs work-life policies, and why. Is Women's Work a Choice? Examining Why Women Work ... Two said they would personally be happy to stay home as a house-dad. ...
Drawing from qualitative data gathered at two correctional facilities, this paper empirically ill... more Drawing from qualitative data gathered at two correctional facilities, this paper empirically illustrates employee reactions to organizational contradictions in a total institution and advances a theoretical model positing that organizational tensions may be framed as complementary dialectics, ...
... Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Sarah J. Tracy, Department of C... more ... Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Sarah J. Tracy, Department of Communication, CB270, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309. Electronic mail may be sent to sarah.tracy@ucsub.colorado.edu. Page 2. 391 JACR NOVEMBER 1998 ...
... In this article, we focus on the flip side: instances in which call-takers Karen Tracy (Ph.D.... more ... In this article, we focus on the flip side: instances in which call-takers Karen Tracy (Ph.D., University of Wisconsin, 1981) is a professor and Sarah]. Tracy is a doctoral student in the Communication Department at the University of Colorado, Boulder. ...
Using qualitative data gathered among correctional officers and a post-structuralist theoretical ... more Using qualitative data gathered among correctional officers and a post-structuralist theoretical lens, this study suggests that emotion labor*/the instrumental use and suppression of emotion*/is more difficult when societal discourses and organizational processes limit employees' ability to maintain preferred understandings of identity. The paper provides rich description of the complex web of emotion norms faced by correctional officers and then makes
Based on qualitative field and interview data, this comparative analysis of dirty work by firefig... more Based on qualitative field and interview data, this comparative analysis of dirty work by firefighters and correctional officers demonstrates that taint management and its relative utility is inextricably bound to and embedded within macro-level discourses. While firefighters labor to fulfill ...
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