What can account for the high rates of stress related illnesses among service sector workers, particularly those employed at the bottom of organizational hierarchies? By interviewing a wide range of workers from hospital cleaners, to call center workers and managers, Brooker builds an explanation based on workers' experiences and argues that dignity is a central link between the work environment and workers' experiences of stress. When asked to describe particularly stressful events, sometimes workers talked about being ignored, insulted or bullied. Other times, workers spoke of their difficulty in receiving any type of recognition for the work that they do. Brooker argues that these deillegalscriptions share common themes. They are all situations in which workers experience a threat to their dignity. In this book, the process by which workers achieve dignity through work is elucidated, and the situations in which workers feel that their dignity is being affronted are described. Drawing on various sociological theories of power, Brooker argues that workers with low power in organizations are most likely to experience threats to dignity at work.
Sylvia, AnnnAnn-Sylvia Brooker is a researcher who has been investigating relationships between social factors, work and health for more than a decade. She completed her doctorate at the University of Toronto, and she has worked as a researcher for a number of organizations, such as the Institute for Work & Health and the University of Waterloo.
Über den Autor
Ann-Sylvia Brooker is a researcher who has been investigating relationships between social factors, work and health for more than a decade. She completed her doctorate at the University of Toronto, and she has worked as a researcher for a number of organizations, such as the Institute for Work & Health and the University of Waterloo.
