ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the connections between emotionalized regions within organizations and the kinds of emotional process work that occur within these regions. A study of an emergency service organization over an 18-month period found that the performance of emotional process work is a vital stage in the overall performance of emotional labor within this industry. Interviews with emergency service workers also indicated that a substantial amount of emotional process work occurs within one of three emotional regions within the organization—the “offstage” (or nonwork) region. The organization in question, known here as the Department of Paramedical Services (DPS), relies heavily on informal “off stage” emotional support. Thoits's (1985) work on emotional process work and Goffman's (1959) work on regions are used to demonstrate how the individual management of emotion and the organizational ordering of emotional regions are intertwined closely. Organizational implications for the overreliance on offstage forms of support are also discussed briefly.
