Abstract
Drawing from qualitative data gathered at two correctional facilities, this paper empirically illustrates employee reactions to organizational contradictions in a total institution and advances a theoretical model positing that organizational tensions may be framed as complementary dialectics, simple contradictions, or pragmatic paradoxes - each accompanied by attendant organizational and personal ramifications. The analysis suggests that organizations can create structures in which employees are more likely to make sense of organizational contradictions in healthy ways and avoid the debilitating reactions associated with double binds. Specifically, through metacommunication about organizational tensions (for instance, manifest in role play enactment of contradictory occupational goals), employees are better able to understand the paradoxes that mark work life and make sense of them in emotionally healthy ways.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 119-146 |
| Number of pages | 28 |
| Journal | Journal of Applied Communication Research |
| Volume | 32 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - May 2004 |
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Keywords
- Burnout
- Contradiction
- Correctional Facility
- Double Bind
- Emotion
- Gender
- Paradox
- Total Institution
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Communication
- Language and Linguistics
Cite this
Dialectic, contradiction, or double bind? Analyzing and theorizing employee reactions to organizational tension. / Tracy, Sarah.
In: Journal of Applied Communication Research, Vol. 32, No. 2, 05.2004, p. 119-146.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Dialectic, contradiction, or double bind? Analyzing and theorizing employee reactions to organizational tension
AU - Tracy, Sarah
PY - 2004/5
Y1 - 2004/5
N2 - Drawing from qualitative data gathered at two correctional facilities, this paper empirically illustrates employee reactions to organizational contradictions in a total institution and advances a theoretical model positing that organizational tensions may be framed as complementary dialectics, simple contradictions, or pragmatic paradoxes - each accompanied by attendant organizational and personal ramifications. The analysis suggests that organizations can create structures in which employees are more likely to make sense of organizational contradictions in healthy ways and avoid the debilitating reactions associated with double binds. Specifically, through metacommunication about organizational tensions (for instance, manifest in role play enactment of contradictory occupational goals), employees are better able to understand the paradoxes that mark work life and make sense of them in emotionally healthy ways.
AB - Drawing from qualitative data gathered at two correctional facilities, this paper empirically illustrates employee reactions to organizational contradictions in a total institution and advances a theoretical model positing that organizational tensions may be framed as complementary dialectics, simple contradictions, or pragmatic paradoxes - each accompanied by attendant organizational and personal ramifications. The analysis suggests that organizations can create structures in which employees are more likely to make sense of organizational contradictions in healthy ways and avoid the debilitating reactions associated with double binds. Specifically, through metacommunication about organizational tensions (for instance, manifest in role play enactment of contradictory occupational goals), employees are better able to understand the paradoxes that mark work life and make sense of them in emotionally healthy ways.
KW - Burnout
KW - Contradiction
KW - Correctional Facility
KW - Double Bind
KW - Emotion
KW - Gender
KW - Paradox
KW - Total Institution
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=2642581804&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=2642581804&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/0090988042000210025
DO - 10.1080/0090988042000210025
M3 - Article
VL - 32
SP - 119
EP - 146
JO - Journal of Applied Communication Research
JF - Journal of Applied Communication Research
SN - 0090-9882
IS - 2
ER -