The aim of this work is to understand, from a perspective of sociology of emotions, how employees within the health care sector experience their working environment and the conditions. By analysing how these experiences shape the interviewees’ perceptions of the quality of their working environment, the dissertation also seeks to arrive at an understanding of what the contributing factors are for their choice to either remain in or leave the organizations in which they are employed. This study has been conducted as a qualitative interview study. Vocational categories represented in the study are doctors, nurses, assistant nurses, midwives, and physical therapists. The analysis has employed an abductive approach, in which empirical sensitivity, interpretation, and theory are combined. The interpretative and empirical focus, and the theory used concentrate largely on emotions, and the resulting analysis is, thusly, a contribution within the sociology of emotions. The empirical analysis is organized in three chapters, describing and analysing three main areas: dissatisfaction with public organisations, social embeddedness, and emotional labour. In terms of results the dissertation demonstrates that workplaces undergoing repeated changes without strong support from the staff are experienced as bad, while workplaces where the employees feel affirmed and competent are experienced as good. However, it is not working environment and conditions alone that are meaningful for the interviewees, but so is the balance between work and private life, as well as the balance between social relations in and outside of the workplace. In addition, the emotional culture in workplaces and among colleagues is of crucial importance for the interviewees’ perceptions of their work. It is suggested that this pertains to the fact that health care work constitutes a specific type of emotional labour which, in the dissertation, is described as harbouring work. Hence, more than a matter of working environment and conditions, the interviewees’ experiences depend more upon factors such as the degree of embeddedness in social relationships, the emotional climate in the workplace, and the possibility to form a buffer culture. Moreover, it is these factors that underpin how and why employees choose to remain in or leave their workplaces.

This thesis aimed to explore mothers experiences of having a child with special needs througha gender equality perspective. Four mothers were interviewed through a semi-structured interview guide. Feminist disability studies and emotional labor with an intersectional perspective have been the guiding framework. To analyse the empirical material I have used aqualitative thematic analysis. Research has shown that heterosexual couples with children in Sweden are becoming more equal in terms of the unpaid” invisible” household chores. However, parents who has children with disabilities and in need for more extensive care tend to take on more traditional roles. The findings have shown that mothers are more often the one who takes care of the necessary chores concerning the child’s disability. At the same time, she also needs to take a step back in her career or not able to have work outside the home. For some of the families, the necessary chores have been divided into administrative or practical tasks were one parent has done more than the other. To get a deeper knowledge about why it was that certain gender division I have found that the deep emotional connection to their child had an intersectional effect in the decision to stay home for these mothers.

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Doing ethnographic work on the effects of COVID 19, I looked at how food service businesses were affected. I found that the government’s selective distribution of aid and lacking guidance had forced them to prioritize accommodating customers over their own safety. I look at the economic, mental, and physical risks imposed by this policy, and find that people cope with them through solidarity and creativity. In this, I draw on theories addressing the state, war, emotional labor, and disaster. My understanding of the state explains how pressure is created for workers to deal with the situation, and emotional labor explains more of the burden, and how they bear it. Vulnerability theory helps explain downward redistribution of the pandemic’s burden, and I develop its core points further to capture the socially deleterious impact of lasting disasters. Theories of war and solidarity explain how normality and everyday life are impacted by the disaster, and how people restore a sense of routine and normality cooperatively. I conclude that long term disasters need to be further studied and better understood because of their capacity to worsen and entrench inequality.

Traduit en français en 2017, l’ouvrage séminal de la sociologue Arlie Russell Hochschild, The Managed Heart (1983), approfondit le « travail émotionnel », un concept ensuite repris dans plusieurs champs disciplinaires et contextes d’étude, et qui est au coeur des exigences émotionnelles identifiées par Gollac & Bodier (2010) comme un des facteurs de risques psychosociaux (RPS). Haut lieu d’émotions, où l’« extra-ordinaire » (la maladie, la souffrance, la mort) fait partie du quotidien, l’hôpital est un environnement particulier pour effectuer le travail émotionnel. Ce dernier suppose (1) de gérer ses propres émotions, (2) d’afficher ou d’exprimer certaines émotions pour agir sur celles du patient, (3) en se conformant à certaines « règles émotionnelles », (4) dans un cadre pétri d’une charge émotionnelle variable. Cette thèse vise l’approfondissement du concept de travail émotionnel à l’hôpital : sa caractérisation, sa définition ainsi que les leviers d’action organisationnels susceptibles de faciliter sa réalisation et d’agir sur ses conséquences. Le travail de terrain a été mené dans un CHU auprès de médecins, d’infirmières et d’aides-soignantes dans des services de soins, relevant de différentes spécialités médicales (urgences, gériatrie, rééducation, neurologie), et accueillant des patients vulnérables ou dépendants. Il repose sur une production de données combinant entretiens, observation directe / observation participante et analyse de documents internes. Les résultats émergeant du travail empirique éclairent le travail émotionnel hospitalier dans un cadre français, son importance pour le professionnel de santé et pour le patient. Ils mettent en avant plusieurs éléments : la nature des « règles émotionnelles » dominantes, la modulation de leur appropriation par les professionnels de santé, les différences de charge émotionnelle entre services, la « pénibilité émotionnelle », des indices de fatigue de compassion (un concept qui diffère de l’épuisement émotionnel), le rôle du travail émotionnel dans la prise en charge du patient. Les leviers d’action organisationnels soulignés sont multiples. Il s’agit (1) d’assurer un socle commun de connaissances/compétences par des formations ciblées et/ou transversales, de faciliter les possibilités de self-care et (2) d’encourager les pratiques « vertueuses » que sont les dynamiques de soutien social, l’aménagement de moments de coupure, l’instauration des conditions temporelles et matérielles d’une régulation émotionnelle collective et la réaffirmation de la place du patient dans le service. / Translated into French in 2017, sociologist Arlie Russell Hochschild’s seminal work, The Managed Heart (1983), elaborated the concept of “emotional labor” which has subsequently given rise to studies in several disciplinary fields and contexts and which is central to the emotional demands identified by Gollac & Bodier (2010) as one psychosocial risk factor. As a place rich in emotions where the “extra-ordinary” (illness, suffering and death) is an everyday experience, the hospital is a particular environment for the performance of emotional labor, which involves (1) the management of one’s own emotions, (2) showing or expressing certain emotions in order to influence those of the patient, (3) by following “emotional rules”, all (4) within a context marked by a weight of emotions. This thesis endeavors to offer an in-depth examination of hospital emotional labor: characterizing and defining the concept, as well as discussing the organizational levers that could improve how it might be performed and control its consequences. The fieldwork was carried out in a teaching hospital and concerned doctors, nurses, orderlies / nursing assistants working in departments belonging to different medical specialisations (accident and emergency, geriatrics, rehabilitation, neurology) treating vulnerable or dependent patients. Data production was based on interviews, direct and participant observation and analysis of internal documents. The results of this empirical work shed light on hospital emotional labor in France and its importance for the health professional and the patient. They highlight several elements: the nature of the prevailing “emotional rules”, how (far) they are appropriated by health professionals, how the emotional burden differs between departments, the “emotionally onerous nature of the work”, signs of compassion fatigue (not the same concept as burnout) and the role of emotional labor in patient care. A substantial number of organizational levers are outlined: (1) ensuring common knowledge and skills through targeted or broad-based training, facilitating the opportunities for self-care, (2) encouraging “virtuous” practices consisting in social support dynamics, work breaks, making time and space for collective emotional regulation and reaffirming the place of the patient within the care context.

Leadership is developed by experience and grows with time (Ohnstad, et al, 2019). However, being a young leader many times relates to having less experience. This can add to the already existing obstacles that a leader encounters, making it more challenging for a young leader to fulfill their position. Therefore, the following study investigates what perceptions young leaders experience, and what strategies they adopt to gain legitimacy and respect in their position, and thereby influence their employees. The study's findings provide a greater understanding of the underlying reasons why young people may experience difficulties in being leaders, and what strategies they therefore use to be perceived as more suited for their position A qualitative research approach was chosen to conduct the study. The collected data consists of semi-structured interviews with 14 respondents. The findings in the study indicate that prejudices among young leaders can vary. This depends on how long one has been involved in an organization or if the leader is the creator of the company. Also engaging in emotional labor can be a way of fitting into the norm to be perceived as more suitable for a certain position, which is a way to avoid prejudices. The findings of the study resulted in four strategies that the young leaders use to be considered serious leaders: 1) being present, 2) tailor-made workplace, 3) personalized leadership and 4) non-hierarchical environment. Finally, in terms of leading efficiently, emotional intelligence is exercised as a part of a young leader's strategy to gain trust, influence and meet the needs of the employees. Keywords: young leaders, leadership, emotional labor, emotional intelligence, strategies, leaders, subordinates, followers.

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This is a qualitative study with the purpose of examining the emotional labor affecting socialworkers, working with children and youths, and whether they get sufficient support to manage their work tasks. The study aims to answer the two following questions: “Do socialworkers, working with children and youths, feel that they are emotionally affected by their work and if so, how do they manage this?” and “In what ways is support from the workplace crucial to manage the emotional labor?”. The theories that this study is based on are Hochschild's theory about emotional labor, Goffman’s dramaturgical theory and organizational theory. Four qualitative interviews with social workers, working with children and youths, were conducted and the data was analyzed in accordance with Braun and Clarke’s (2008) thematic analysis.The findings indicate that social workers, working with children and youths, are emotionallyaffected by their work, both in positive and negative ways. To manage this they account fordifferent ways to work with their emotions, for instance they enter a professional role, convey certain feelings and hide some feelings. The findings also indicate that support from the workplace is essential to manage the emotional aspects of the work and avoid negative workrelated consequences for the social workers. This entails support from colleagues andstability within the organization, but some also indicate that support from family and a stablehome is a necessity to be able to manage the emotional aspect of work.

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