Morriss2014

From emcawiki
Jump to: navigation, search
Morriss2014
BibType ARTICLE
Key Morriss2014
Author(s) Lisa Morriss
Title Accomplishing social work identity through non-seriousness: An ethnomethodological approach
Editor(s)
Tag(s) EMCA, medical EMCA, social work, mental health, humour, identity, affiliation
Publisher
Year 2014
Language
City
Month
Journal Qualitative Social Work
Volume 14
Number 3
Pages 307–320
URL Link
DOI 10.1177/1473325014552282
ISBN
Organization
Institution
School
Type
Edition
Series
Howpublished
Book title
Chapter

Download BibTex

Abstract

Although there have been a few articles discussing laughter in social work, social work is not normally associated with humour and laughter. The paper explores the use of non-seriousness in interview interactions with Approved Mental Health Professionals (AMHPs) using analytical insights gained from ethnomethodology, conversation analysis and socio-linguistics. Excerpts from empirical data from individual narrative interviews will be used to show how social work identity can be accomplished through humour and laughter. The significance of the key ethnomethodological concepts of unique adequacy, vulgar competency and indexicality will be used to inform the analysis of gallows or bleak humour, ironic banter about the ‘other’ and the telling of troubles. In the interviews, non-seriousness was successfully accomplished by two ‘strangers’. It is argued that as group members of a specialised group, we share a deep competence in the haecceity or the ‘just thisness’ of the social work trade. Thus, this can be seen as a powerful demonstration of the competencies involved in being a bona fide member of a collectivity.

Notes