‘Dirt, Death and Danger? I Don't Recall Any Adverse Reaction …’: Masculinity and the Taint Management of Hospital Private Security Work

Abstract

Drawing on an ethnographic narrative written by one of the authors following his resignation from a hospital private security team in Ottawa, Canada and interview data gleaned from eight security men (all former colleagues), this article explores how hospital private security officers draw on discourses of masculinity to navigate the 'dirty' boundaries of their work, and to preserve their alpha-guard statuses as controlled, autonomous and authoritative subjects. We found that hospital guards manage and deflect taint status by emphasizing their resiliency, emotional detachment and enthusiasm towards morbid, disturbing and dangerous tasks. Guards who seek to challenge these components of the job may be subject to gender harassment and reprisal from other guards, senior security officials and nursing staff. Overall, these narratives call attention to the necessity of hospital training programmes, de-briefing exercises and best-communication practices that promote the physical and emotional well-being of persons who engage in intensive forms of dirty work.

Dirty jobs and dehumanization of workers

“…More recently, starting from the original theorization proposed by Hughes (, ), social psychologists and anthropologists focused their research on occupational dirt and identity dynamics (e.g., Ashforth & Kreiner, ; Ashforth, Kreiner, Clark, & Fugate, , ; Bosmans et al ., ; Cassell & Bishop, ; Filteau, ; Johnston & Hodge, ; Kreiner, Ashforth, & Sluss, ; Meldgaard Hansen, ; Selmi, ). For example, Dick () explained that being branded as a ‘dirty worker’ may imply a significant threat to the identity goal of seeing themselves in a positive light.…”

Credentialing Decisions and Criminal Records: A Narrative Approach*

“…Meanwhile, the awarding of security guard licenses to individuals with criminal records raises important policy questions. Unarmed security guards do not carry weapons and are not law enforcement agents; given that many positions are not highly paid, can involve unorthodox schedules, and may not be held in high esteem by the public, some might consider the occupation to be undesirable “dirty work” (Johnston and Hodge, ). Yet the job involves protecting people and property and has gained some legitimacy through a growing recognition of private security as part of the “extended police family” (Thumala, Goold, and Loader, : 294).…”

Congruence work in stigmatized occupations: A managerial lens on employee fit with dirty work

“…Empirical work has supported and extended these arguments (e.g., Ashforth, Kreiner, Clark, & Fugate, ; Bosmans et al, ; Cassell & Bishop, ; Dick, ; Filteau, ; Johnston & Hodge, ; Meldgaard Hansen, ; Selmi, ). For example, Bosmans et al () document the use of ideologies, supporting supporters, and condemning condemners in a study of domestic workers; Dick () describes how police officers absolve themselves of the moral ambiguity surrounding the use of coercive force against citizens; and Selmi () found that phone sex workers resisted negative labeling and cast their work in socially acceptable terms through “identity cleansing.” Note, however, that this research has seldom examined the role of the dirty work manager , a potentially important player in the adjustment process.…”