Exploring Emotional Labor in Child Welfare Using Frontline Stories

Abstract

This article explores emotional labor in child welfare and advances theoretical and conceptual understanding of emotional labor as the operationalization of care in public administration. Using six vignettes developed from practical experiences by the author and colleagues, the article illustrates the difficulties and rewards of emotional labor. Further, it calls for integration of emotion and reason as nondichotomous factors in the performance of emotional labor at the client and organizational level. The primary implication for public administration is that separating emotion and reason diminishes capacity for care delivery.