"Ministry of Presence" as Emotional Labor
Perspectives from Recipients of Care
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3584856 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Amy Lawton (0000-0002-8405-9012, Brandeis University, corresponding author), W Cadge (0000-0003-1713-5449, Bryn Mawr College) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 15 |
| Issue | 9 |
| Pages | 1135 |
| Publication date | 2024-09-20 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Religions (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444 |
| Publisher | MDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT) |
| DOI | 10.3390/rel15091135 |
| OpenAlex | W4402689532 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 25 |
This paper analyzes the work of chaplaincy and spiritual care from the perspective of care recipients. Chaplains call their work a "ministry of presence," a term of art that is often unclear to many who are not chaplains. How else might we conceptualize "presence" in order to ground it in the social science literature? Using sociological theory, we show that care recipients may experience a chaplain's work as emotional labor, specifically "other-focused emotional labor." Based on in-depth interviews with a sample of 38 care recipients, we find recipients feeling reassured by the chaplain; being offered support and help by the chaplain; and not feeling judged by the chaplain. These findings enlarge sociological concepts about spiritual care to include what recipients experience as emotional labor and call for a broader engagement between sociologists of religion and emotions
Christian ministry · Emotional labor · Political science · Emotional Labor in Professions · Employment and Welfare Studies · Law · Medicine · Nursing · Psychology · Social Psychology · Work-Family Balance Challenges
Abductive Analysis
A Ministry of Presence
What do I do? Developing a taxonomy of chaplaincy activities and interventions for spiritual care in intensive care unit palliative care
A Qualitative Study of Patient and Family Perceptions of Chaplain Presence During Post-Trauma Care
Defining and Operationalizing Chaplain Presence
What Do Chaplains Contribute to Large Academic Hospitals? The Perspectives of Pediatric Physicians and Chaplains
Spiritual Care
The Consequences of Emotional Labor
The bright side of emotional labor
The emotional labour of caring in teaching
Privileged Emotion Managers
Caring Labor
Emotional Labour
Trolley Dolly or Skilled Emotion Manager? Moving on from Hochschild's Managed Heart
The Affective Consequences of Service Work
The Sociology of Emotional Labor
Practical Matters and Ultimate Concerns, 'Doing,' and 'Being
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |