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Recalcitrance, compliance and the presentation of self: Exploring the concept of organisational misbehaviour in an English local authority child protection service

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  • Leigh, Jadwiga

Abstract

This article examines how social workers reinterpreted certain legal requirements to meet their organisation's performance targets. Using an ethnographic approach, I combine organisational misbehaviour theory and Goffmanesque conceptions of dramaturgy to explore the regional activity of one team in a statutory agency. I argue that singly neither misbehaviour theory nor dramaturgical performances account for our understanding of why workers respond differently to organisational changes in a neo-liberalist environment. This study differs from current literature by shifting emphasis away from workers either resisting or conforming with organisational directives on to the ways in which individuals and collectives devise methods which instead give the appearance of co-operation. I demonstrate how workers disguised their resistance in an attempt to achieve potentially unachievable objectives and in turn avoid disciplinary action. I conclude by suggesting that applying Goffman to studies of organisation can advance scholars' understanding of how certain individuals respond to change and might come to be defined as loyal and compliant. This approach can also encourage discussions relating to the concept of recalcitrance and whether it is developed, and enforced, by those in powerful positions on the basis of their own desire to be well regarded by others.

Suggested Citation

  • Leigh, Jadwiga, 2017. "Recalcitrance, compliance and the presentation of self: Exploring the concept of organisational misbehaviour in an English local authority child protection service," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 612-619.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:79:y:2017:i:c:p:612-619
    DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2017.07.016
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Lewin, Simon & Reeves, Scott, 2011. "Enacting 'team' and 'teamwork': Using Goffman's theory of impression management to illuminate interprofessional practice on hospital wards," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(10), pages 1595-1602, May.
    2. Forrest Briscoe, 2007. "From Iron Cage to Iron Shield? How Bureaucracy Enables Temporal Flexibility for Professional Service Workers," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 18(2), pages 297-314, April.
    3. Gibson, Matthew, 2016. "Constructing pride, shame, and humiliation as a mechanism of control: A case study of an English local authority child protection service," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 120-128.
    4. Stewart Clegg & David Courpasson & Nelson Phillips, 2006. "Power and organizations," Post-Print hal-02298067, HAL.
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