A Sociological Perspective on Emotion Work and Judging

Authors

  • Sharyn Roach Anleu Flinders University
  • Kathy Mack Flinders University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.35295/osls.iisl/0000-0000-0000-1032

Keywords:

Emotions, emotion work, courts, judges, judging

Abstract

Judicial work requires judicial officers to manage their own emotions and related conduct, as well as to anticipate, interpret, respond to and manage emotions and behaviours of others, most visibly in the interaction order of the courtroom. A detailed, sociological analysis of judicial interview data reveals the ways judicial officers themselves understand, manage and use emotion in their everyday work. Judicial emotion work is more than a purely individual or personal enterprise. It operates in accordance with explicit and implicit feeling and display rules, cultural scripts and legal norms that shape the relation between emotion and judging. The ways judicial officers articulate their understanding of emotion in their everyday work reveals their reproduction and potential transformation of the boundaries between emotion and their status as judge. These findings reposition emotion work as central to judicial performance and enable emotion itself to be recognised as a positive judicial resource.

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Author Biographies

Sharyn Roach Anleu, Flinders University

Matthew Flinders Distinguished Professor 

College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences  

Kathy Mack, Flinders University

Emerita Professor

College of Business, Government and Law  

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01-12-2019

How to Cite

Roach Anleu, S. and Mack, K. (2019) “A Sociological Perspective on Emotion Work and Judging”, Oñati Socio-Legal Series, 9(5), pp. 831–851. doi: 10.35295/osls.iisl/0000-0000-0000-1032.

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Research Methods, Empirical Insights and [Changing] Judicial Practice