Advancing a social identity perspective on interoperability in the emergency services: Evidence from the Pandemic Multi-Agency Response Teams during the UK COVID-19 response
Year: 2022
Type: article
Abstract: Previous research shows there are persistent challenges with multi-agency response centring on problems of communication and coordination. The Social Identity Approach provides an important psychological framework for analysing relations within and between groups which can be used to understand why challenges in multi-agency response occur, and what can be done to prevent them re-occurring in the future. Pandemic Multi-Agency Response Teams (PMART) were introduced in some areas of the UK during the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic to respond to suspected COVID-19 deaths in the community. We conducted 14 semi-structured interviews with responders from the Police and Fire and Rescue Services who were involved in these teams. Interviews were analysed using thematic analysis. Results show that responders appeared to share a pre-existing superordinate identity of all being members of the blue-light service . This identity was made salient through responders experiencing positive contact with each other. Responders also shared the situational superordinate identity of PMART which was both created, and then made salient, through positive contact with each other as well as responders sharing difficult experiences. Structural factors such as inequalities in building access and different shift patterns increased the salience of sub-group identities and caused conflicts between these identities, creating operational challenges for multi-agency working. This research advances our understanding of multi-agency working from a social identity perspective by providing evidence of a shared social identity at an operational level of emergency response. Practical implications of this research are discussed.
Authors: Louise Davidson, Holly Carter, John Drury, Richard Amlôt, S. Alexander Haslam
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Reduced inequalities
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $1,920
Funders: UK Research and Innovation, National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit, National Institute for Health and Care Research, Department of Health and Social Care, University of East Anglia, King's College London, University of Sussex, University of Bristol, Economic and Social Research Council
OpenAlex ID: W4282600093