Playfights as trouble and respite
(2014) In Journal of Contemporary Ethnography- Abstract
- Playfulness is easily overlooked in studies of total institutions because it does not match what we expect from institutional order. By studying playfulness ethnographically, social life in today’s institutions can be depicted both more naturalistically and more unexpectedly. This article explores how members of Swedish youth care institutions enact and respond to playful disputes or aggression in ways that make physical contact accountable and soften or transform controversial masculinity shows. Staff tries to down-key playfight invitations to “treatment” or “learning,” but playfighting also offers youth and staff identificatory respite from the institutional regime. Playfighting is a recurrent pattern in the social life of a youth care... (More)
- Playfulness is easily overlooked in studies of total institutions because it does not match what we expect from institutional order. By studying playfulness ethnographically, social life in today’s institutions can be depicted both more naturalistically and more unexpectedly. This article explores how members of Swedish youth care institutions enact and respond to playful disputes or aggression in ways that make physical contact accountable and soften or transform controversial masculinity shows. Staff tries to down-key playfight invitations to “treatment” or “learning,” but playfighting also offers youth and staff identificatory respite from the institutional regime. Playfighting is a recurrent pattern in the social life of a youth care institution and sits at the core of what inmates and staff have to deal with. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/5050050
- author
- Wästerfors, David LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2014
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- total institution, frame analysis, play, play fight, doing gender, Sociology
- in
- Journal of Contemporary Ethnography
- publisher
- SAGE Publications
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:84960341255
- wos:000372596900003
- ISSN
- 0891-2416
- DOI
- 10.1177/0891241614554087
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- ef3bdafd-1ed0-4222-975d-5cd99c1390ad (old id 5050050)
- alternative location
- http://jce.sagepub.com/content/early/2014/10/21/0891241614554087.abstracttitle=
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 10:00:02
- date last changed
- 2022-04-19 21:43:08
@article{ef3bdafd-1ed0-4222-975d-5cd99c1390ad,
abstract = {{Playfulness is easily overlooked in studies of total institutions because it does not match what we expect from institutional order. By studying playfulness ethnographically, social life in today’s institutions can be depicted both more naturalistically and more unexpectedly. This article explores how members of Swedish youth care institutions enact and respond to playful disputes or aggression in ways that make physical contact accountable and soften or transform controversial masculinity shows. Staff tries to down-key playfight invitations to “treatment” or “learning,” but playfighting also offers youth and staff identificatory respite from the institutional regime. Playfighting is a recurrent pattern in the social life of a youth care institution and sits at the core of what inmates and staff have to deal with.}},
author = {{Wästerfors, David}},
issn = {{0891-2416}},
keywords = {{total institution; frame analysis; play; play fight; doing gender; Sociology}},
language = {{eng}},
publisher = {{SAGE Publications}},
series = {{Journal of Contemporary Ethnography}},
title = {{Playfights as trouble and respite}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0891241614554087}},
doi = {{10.1177/0891241614554087}},
year = {{2014}},
}