Magistrates' Everyday Work and Emotional Labour

ABSTRACT

The concept of emotional labour describes the management of emotions as part of everyday work performance. Much of the research in this field has been in relation to jobs in the service sector where (mostly female) employees are required to shape their own feelings in order to make customers or clients feel at ease, comfortable or happy. There has been relatively little attention paid to the importance of emotional labour in professional occupations. This paper examines the emotional labour of magistrates in court. Magistrates must often regulate their own emotions and those of some court users, many of whom are not legally represented and who express a variety of emotions, including anger and distress, and experience social problems that may elicit emotions or emotional responses from the magistrate. The paper reports findings from interviews with over 40 magistrates throughout Australia and begins to address the significance of emotional labour for this branch of the judiciary.