How do social workers cope with dirty work? A biographical approach to class and gender variations

• In Event: 50220 - Section on Organizations, Occupations, and Work Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 22: Emotional Labor

Abstract

This article examines the work of legal guardians. Primarily trained social workers employed as civil servants, they are responsible for supervising and making decisions on behalf of vulnerable adults deemed incapable of managing their own affairs due to mental illness, addiction, or disability. We show how they navigate the paradoxes of their occupation, which blends care and coercion. More specifically, through a biographical approach, we investigate how individual trajectories shape variations in coping mechanisms for the classical “moral” and “social” taints associated with their work, but also the “emotional” one. While prior studies on “dirty work” have largely focused on institutional and peer influences, we argue that guardians’ past experiences—class socialization, gendered dispositions, and social mobility patterns—play a crucial role in shaping their engagement with and perception of tainted tasks.
Drawing on observations and biographical interviews of Swiss legal guardians, we identify two profiles with contrasting approaches to taint management. The first group (“compassionate guardians”) embraces an ethic of care deeply rooted in early socialization, tied to familial responsibilities and experiences of caregiving. They reframe their work as a mission to support and uplift a socially stigmatized population, downplaying its coercive dimensions. In contrast, the “legal-rational guardians” emphasize the regulatory and bureaucratic aspects of their role, distancing themselves from social work by stressing their adherence to legal mandates. They cope with the stigma of coercion through legal-rational justifications, often displaying a fascination for deviant behaviors and a taste for coercion.
By integrating biographical insights into the sociology of dirty work, this study reveals how personal histories influence not only professional orientations but also job satisfaction. These findings contribute to a nuanced understanding of how workers reconcile ethical dilemmas in socially devalued professions, highlighting the interplay between individual trajectories and structural constraints in the management of tainted labor.

Authors

• David Julien Pichonnaz, Univ of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland

• Agnès Aubry, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland

• Marlène Bouvet, ENS Lyon

• Lucile Quéré, University of Lausanne