ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the trajectory of people who move from a general interest in ghosts and hauntings to participation in paranormal investigation as a quasi-professional practice. Investigators are socialized into the idioculture of their team, including the team’s knowledge regime, investigative techniques, and feeling rules. Depending upon the team’s dominant investigative style, they find that the “right” way to sense spirits may involve technological tools, sensitive impressions, or a combination of the two. In the context of paranormal investigation teams, two distinct forms of knowledge claims are combined into three basic knowledge regimes. Sensitive-dominant teams critique the technology-heavy and emotionally detached style of investigation that dominates the subculture. After being socialized into the knowledge regime and accompanying technical skills and feeling rules of their teams, investigators begin to develop personal identities as “paranormal investigators.” Along with acquiring the requisite knowledge and skills, a key element of professional socialization is learning the “feeling rules” of a professional role.
