Emotionellt lönearbete inom socialt arbete : Likheter och skillnader mellan två verksamheter inom det sociala arbetet

Sammanfattning: Emotions are a part of social work, and how the employees manage and process them can affect the quality of the services that they provide. It is therefore of importance to explore how social workers can manage and process their emotions and which support and possibilities to do so their organizations provide. This study is based on Hochschild´s theory of emotional labour, using her concept deep acting and surface acting. The aim of this study has been to examine similarities and differences in managing emotions between two different social work practices, one social services unit and one treatment unit. In order to explore this we conducted two focus group interviews, one at each unit. The study showed that both units were affected emotionally by their work and the actions of their clients. The treatment unit appears to primarily use deep acting and the social services unit appears to primarily use surface acting. The need to process their emotions is fulfilled in both places, primarily through collegial support and because they themselves creates the time to process, but the organization does not create any specific space for this.