| dc.description.abstract | In focus here are processes of discipline in work groups in human
service organisations. We will describe and analyse disciplining processes among
teachers in schools and warders in prisons, two different service organisations,
which both aim at influencing there 'clients', and none of them especially prone
at crossing boundaries. Here are, however, lots of ethical dilemmas. We argue that
both teachers and warders are exposed to 'double disciplining'. Firstly, there are
organisational disciplining forces, like governmental rules, professional norms,
and trade/cultural traditions. The driving forces behind organisational disciplining
are, on the one hand, rhetorical statements about idealized objectives and rules
and, on the other hand, physical arrangements, both of which seek to maintain the
legitimacy of organisational practices. Secondly, we are disciplined by ourselves.
The driving forces of the self-disciplining processes in our material are a
pragmatical wish for an untroubled working day and a wish to cope with the
situations at work, where demands from colleagues and clients/customers play an
important role.
In our analysis, we will apply the concepts of Foucault, when he
describes the political anatomy of disciplinary practices. The contribution of this
report is the analysis of disciplining processes within modern service
organisations aimed at disciplining their clients/customers, and the highlighting of
the dilemmas experienced in these processes. To develop consciousness about
disciplining processes can promote reflection about dilemmas, which is of
extreme importance in organisations where human encounters are the products of
the business. | swe |
