Prisons, Performance Arena, and Occupational Humor
Year: 2011
Type: article
Abstract: In my ethnographic research, my collaborators1 emphasize the importance of humor; they assert that a successful CO must have a sense of humor in order to tolerate the job. The ability to speak the occupational language, to "speak the job," as Tim Tangherlini describes it in Talking Trauma (1998), is necessary for occupational success. This success encompasses the worker's ability to perform the job while maintaining sufficient job satisfaction (including self-respect and manageable stress levels) to ensure they can remain in the job without burnout, and even advance within the institution. Successful long-term employees must be able to interpret the verbal register of the community, and part of this occupational literacy involves being fluent in occupational humor.
Source: Oral tradition
Author: Claire Schmidt
Language: English
Subfield: Social Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W1973646129