Enforcing the Work Ethic by Gale Miller

Enforcing the Work Ethic by Gale Miller

This analysis, based on a year's observation of social relations in a Work Incentive Program (WIC) office, explores the ways in which staff members organize their interactions with clients, coworkers, and supervisors. Miller focuses on rhetoric (persuasive discourse) as a central aspect of everyday work and as a means of analyzing activities and relationships. He shows, for example, how staff members, clients, and supervisors rhetorically define and justify organizational purposes, or typical and preferred organizational solutions to problems. The book offers an alternative image and orientation to low-level human service professionals and emphasizes how they actively participate in the creation and maintenance of troublesome work relationships.

"Rather than taking the idas of 'labor market,' 'job characteristics,' and 'skills' for granted and analyzing market conditions, Miller argues that these concepts are continually subject to definition by those concerned, and that their meanings are assigned under very practical circumstances

"The complex practicalities we all face in life and work are not ignored in describing WIN, and therefore, show a recognition of real life circumstances, in particular the 'rhetoric' that endures in a street-level bureaucracy. This challenges major assumptions and presents a convincing case for an alternate point of view." — Jaber F. Gubrium

"Few sociologists have the courage to examine the messy, ambiguous, complex world of social service provision. While this examination is not as neat and tidy as those seeking merely to apportion blame, it is truly a sociological analysis of interest to all people who strive to understand how the world actually works. In particular, Miller's perspective—new to sociology—has started to transform sociological studies of social problems and human services work." — Donileen R. Loseke

Miller, Gale: -

Gale Miller is research professor of social and cultural sciences at Marquette University. His research focuses on social problems theory and the social organization and use of language in everyday life, particularly in human service organizations. He is the author or editor of numerous books, including Becoming Miracle Workers: Language and Meaning in Brief Therapy; Context and Method in Qualitative Research; and Enforcing the Work Ethic.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780791404249
ISBN 10	0791404242
Title	Enforcing the Work Ethic
Author	Gale Miller
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	State University of New York Press
Year published	1991-02-07
Number of pages	252
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.