Doing 'dirty work': Stigma and esteem in the private security industry
This article draws upon two different ethnographic studies – one based in Sweden, the other in the United Kingdom – to explore how private security officers working in a stigmatized industry construct and repair their self-esteem. Whereas the concept of ‘dirty work’ (Hughes, 1951) has been applied t...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Formato: | Journal article |
| Idioma: | English |
| Publicado em: |
SAGE Publications
2015
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| _version_ | 1826312477728571392 |
|---|---|
| author | Löfstrand, CH Loftus, B Loader, I |
| author_facet | Löfstrand, CH Loftus, B Loader, I |
| author_sort | Löfstrand, CH |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | This article draws upon two different ethnographic studies – one based in Sweden, the other in the United Kingdom – to explore how private security officers working in a stigmatized industry construct and repair their self-esteem. Whereas the concept of ‘dirty work’ (Hughes, 1951) has been applied to public police officers, an examination of private security officers as dirty workers remains undeveloped. Along with describing instances of taint designation and management, we find that the occupational culture of security officers enhances self-esteem by infusing security work with a sense of purpose. As members of a tainted occupation, security officers employ a range of strategies to deflect scorn and reframe their work as important and necessary. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T03:06:14Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:b2a3fc25-e8c7-49f2-a60a-f1b75e00b01f |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T03:55:10Z |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| publisher | SAGE Publications |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:b2a3fc25-e8c7-49f2-a60a-f1b75e00b01f2024-03-11T09:04:32ZDoing 'dirty work': Stigma and esteem in the private security industryJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:b2a3fc25-e8c7-49f2-a60a-f1b75e00b01fEnglishSymplectic Elements at OxfordSAGE Publications2015Löfstrand, CHLoftus, BLoader, IThis article draws upon two different ethnographic studies – one based in Sweden, the other in the United Kingdom – to explore how private security officers working in a stigmatized industry construct and repair their self-esteem. Whereas the concept of ‘dirty work’ (Hughes, 1951) has been applied to public police officers, an examination of private security officers as dirty workers remains undeveloped. Along with describing instances of taint designation and management, we find that the occupational culture of security officers enhances self-esteem by infusing security work with a sense of purpose. As members of a tainted occupation, security officers employ a range of strategies to deflect scorn and reframe their work as important and necessary. |
| spellingShingle | Löfstrand, CH Loftus, B Loader, I Doing 'dirty work': Stigma and esteem in the private security industry |
| title | Doing 'dirty work': Stigma and esteem in the private security industry |
| title_full | Doing 'dirty work': Stigma and esteem in the private security industry |
| title_fullStr | Doing 'dirty work': Stigma and esteem in the private security industry |
| title_full_unstemmed | Doing 'dirty work': Stigma and esteem in the private security industry |
| title_short | Doing 'dirty work': Stigma and esteem in the private security industry |
| title_sort | doing dirty work stigma and esteem in the private security industry |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT lofstrandch doingdirtyworkstigmaandesteemintheprivatesecurityindustry AT loftusb doingdirtyworkstigmaandesteemintheprivatesecurityindustry AT loaderi doingdirtyworkstigmaandesteemintheprivatesecurityindustry |