Working Alongside Service Robots: Challenges to Workplace Identity Performance

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Dobrosovestnova ◽  
Glenda Hannibal
Keyword(s):  
Social Service ◽  
Service Industries ◽  
Service Robots ◽  
Feminist Studies ◽  
Identity Performance ◽  
Service Employees ◽  
Workplace Identity

In this paper, through the prism of the notion of workplace identity, we critically reflect on potential challenges of working alongside social service robots in service industries. From feminist studies of workplace identity, we adopt concepts of naturalization and normalization, and discuss how service robots’ “imprisonment” in the role of a friendly and consistent helper may present psychological and political challenges to how service employees relate to and perform their workplace identity.

scholarly journals Beyond the police: libraries as locations of carceral care

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Teresa Helena Moreno
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Service ◽  
Interdisciplinary Research ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Black Studies ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Library Science ◽  
Feminist Studies ◽  
Content Type

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to make visible the connections libraries have to carceral systems and how library workers replicate carceral behavior through care.Design/methodology/approachThis paper uses interdisciplinary research methods in the fields of library science, criminology, feminist studies, Black studies and abolition to examine the role of libraries as locations of carceral care.FindingsLibraries, through their history and funding as well as their roles within society as educators and social service providers, have the components necessary to act out carceral care; libraries by extension can and do participate in forms of carceral care.Originality/valueThere has been much work on carceral care in the fields of social work and education, but to date, there has been little to no scholarship on how libraries work within the landscape of carceral care. This article builds upon the work of others to help understand how it applies to libraries.

scholarly journals Service robots for affective labor: a sociology of labor perspective

AI & Society ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Dobrosovestnova ◽  
Glenda Hannibal ◽  
Tim Reinboth
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Labor ◽  
Participatory Design ◽  
Human Robot Interaction ◽  
Professional Service ◽  
Service Robots ◽  
Feminist Studies ◽  
Robot Interaction ◽  
Service Employees ◽  
Affective Labor ◽  
Service Sectors

AbstractProfit-oriented service sectors such as tourism, hospitality, and entertainment are increasingly looking at how professional service robots can be integrated into the workplace to perform socio-cognitive tasks that were previously reserved for humans. This is a work in which social and labor sciences recognize the principle role of emotions. However, the models and narratives of emotions that drive research, design, and deployment of service robots in human–robot interaction differ considerably from how emotions are framed in the sociology of labor and feminist studies of service work. In this paper, we explore these tensions through the concepts of affective and emotional labor, and outline key insights these concepts offer for the design and evaluation of professional service robots. Taken together, an emphasis on interactionist approaches to emotions and on the demands of affective labor, leads us to argue that service employees are under-represented in existing studies in human–robot interaction. To address this, we outline how participatory design and value-sensitive design approaches can be applied as complimentary methodological frameworks that include service employees as vital stakeholders.

Mitigating Burnout Through Organizational Justice: Customer Support Workers’ Experiences of Customer Injustice and Emotional Labor

2021 ◽  
pp. 089331892110120
Author(s):  
Heewon Kim ◽  
Rebecca B. Leach
Keyword(s):  
Procedural Justice ◽  
Customer Service ◽  
Emotional Labor ◽  
Call Center ◽  
Service Industries ◽  
Interpersonal Justice ◽  
Negatively Associated ◽  
Customer Support ◽  
Decision Making Processes

Employee burnout is a critical organizational concern that can be prevalent among customer support workers whose day-to-day tasks inherently include emotional labor. This study examines emotional labor and burnout among call center workers in customer service industries, specifically focusing on the influences of injustices from customers and supervisors. The findings demonstrate that: (a) customer injustice was associated with an increase in emotional labor, which in turn exacerbated customer support workers’ disengagement and exhaustion; (b) interpersonal justice perceived in the interactions with supervisors was negatively associated with disengagement; and (c) procedural justice perceived in supervisors’ decision-making processes was also negatively associated with disengagement. The findings indicate the mitigating role of interpersonal and procedural justice in reducing burnout among customer support workers.

Team Managers in Local Social Service Departments in Israel as Bottom-Up Social Policy-Makers

2021 ◽  
pp. 324-345
Keyword(s):  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Social Service ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Psychosocial Services ◽  
Service Departments ◽  
New Policies

Following on Felice Perlmutter's work on the managerial role of social workers in social services, this article contributes to the still limited knowledge on the role of social workers in middle-management positions in formulating new policies `on the ground`. The study expands knowledge about policies determined by team managers in local social service departments in Israel. It occurs in the nexus between street-level bureaucracy, professionalism and managerial positions. Semi-structured interviews with 28 team managers revealed that they formulated `new` policies with regard to the provision of psychosocial services and material assistance (who gets what, when and how). This occurs when they resist official policy, when it is vague or non-existent. Most of their policy decisions are not documented and draw upon consultations with colleagues and superiors though not with clients. The team managers perceive these policies as a means for achieving balance between clients' well-being and budgetary constraints. Yet their decisions lack transparency, are decided upon without public discourse and may lead to greater inequity between clients

Does transformational leadership always matter in frontline service roles?

2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (6) ◽  
pp. 733-751 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keo Mony Sok ◽  
Phyra Sok ◽  
Lan Snell ◽  
Pingping Qiu
Keyword(s):  
Customer Service ◽  
Service Performance ◽  
Hierarchical Regression ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Service Employees ◽  
High Level ◽  
Frontline Service Employees ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Frontline Service

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of frontline service employees (FSEs) motivation (enjoyment of work and driven to work) and ability (customer service ability) in the relationship between TFL and employee service performance. Design/methodology/approach This is a survey-based study which involves 534 FSEs and 135 supervisors in a hair salon setting. Hierarchical regression analysis was used to test the proposed hypotheses. Findings Results show that TFL is significantly related to employee service performance; this relationship is enhanced with the presence of driven to work; yet, it is neutralized with the presence of enjoyment of work. Further, the three-way interaction of TFL, enjoyment of work and customer service ability as well as TFL driven to work, and customer service ability are negatively associated with employee service performance. Practical implications The results advance service managers’ understanding of the importance of FSEs motivation and ability if they are to fully reap the benefits from their FSEs. The role of leader is not always effective in all situations. FSEs with high level of enjoyment of work and customer service ability would least rely on the guidance and support from the supervisors. Originality/value This research is one of the first to examine the role of subordinate’s characteristics (motivation – enjoyment of work and driven to work and ability – customer service ability) as the key moderators in the relationship between TFL and employee service performance.

Family Preservation, Poverty, and the Value of Diversity

1993 ◽  
Vol 74 (9) ◽  
pp. 538-544 ◽  
Author(s):  
John P. Ronnau ◽  
Christine R. Marlow
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Social Service ◽  
Core Values ◽  
Family Preservation ◽  
Family Preservation Services ◽  
The Social ◽  
Out Of Home Placement ◽  
Home Placement

The role of family preservation services in preventing out-of-home placement of children is a hot topic in the social service arena. Family preservation has much to offer as an organizing framework for practice in that one of its core values is to emphasize strengths and diversity. The authors define family preservation and describe its application to at-risk families in poverty.

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