"Ministry of Presence" as Emotional Labor

Perspectives from Recipients of Care

Datos Bibliográficos

ID3584856
AutoresAmy Lawton (0000-0002-8405-9012, Brandeis University, autor de correspondencia), W Cadge (0000-0003-1713-5449, Bryn Mawr College)
Año2024
Volumen15
Número9
Páginas1135
Fecha de publicación2024-09-20
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaReligions (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444
EditorialMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/rel15091135
OpenAlexW4402689532
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas2
Referencias citadas25

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