NECTAR. This work has been submitted to NECTAR, the Northampton Electronic Collection of Theses and Research. Conference or Workshop Item

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1 This work has been submitted to NECTAR, the Northampton Electronic Collection of Theses and Research. Conference or Workshop Item Title: Well that s just the ambulance job: a phenomenological exploration of how fire fighters experience emotion and feeling Creator: McAllister, L. Example citation: McAllister, L. (2015) Well that s just the ambulance job: a phenomenological exploration of how fire fighters experience emotion and feeling. Paper presented to: Psychology of Emotion and Feeling Conference (PoEF15), The University of Northampton, 08 April Version: Presented version NECTAR

2 Well that s just the a ula e jo ; A Phenomenological Exploration of How Fire fighters Experience Emotion and Feeling Lauren Ward

3 Aims and Background: Previous research: Exploring how emotion was constructed within the military, using interviews and analysing recruitment campaigns. Current research: To e plore the esse tial hara teristi s of ei g a good firefighter * To explore how constructions of emotion and feeling are understood in the context of doing the job* *note, these have changed; demonstrates rawness, changeability of research

4 The Fire Service; Background and Context Disciplined, regimented, closed yet open organisation Shift Patterns and changing nature of the fire ser i e; proa ti e rather tha just rea ti e Political climate Male dominated

5 The Fire Service; Research Focus Fire Fighting and Mental Health (e.g. stress, burnout, PTSD, depression etc. ) Fire Fighting and Gender (e.g. gender constructions, womens integration etc. ) Beyond these constructions, what is it like to be a Fire Fighter?

6 Methodology Recruitment Pathways Interview Schedule Interviews Phenomenological inquiry

7 Bei g a Good Firefighter Being Capable Doing Willingness Culture of Accountability

8 Not our Job Care as a Skill Good Firefighter Emotion as a Distraction Humour as Transformative Feeling as Spatially Bound

9 Care as a Skill B: you k o, here s y hus a d, ooh he s i the ambulance or whatever, we never, we would e er go as far as to tell so e ody I: :Right, yeah. B: you know what had happened, that ould t e our jo, cos e re ot trai ed to do that.. (Brent)

10 Care as a Skill I: Yeah. B: I mean some people some people are naturally better at it tha others I: Yeah. B: erm, er, ut I e do e it a d I e dealt ith it a d I thi k I e do e alright. I: Mmm. B: but I, I e e er go e a k a d asked the lady, man how did I speak to you (Brent)

11 Feeling as a Distraction you k o I ould e d up ith so e ody ho does t really are or has had a bad day or something and brings their home life to work or so ethi g like that (Kris)

12 Feeling as Spatially Bound B: Doi g the job completely overrides that situation the jo s first. It eeds to e do e. If I do t do it the it a e a worser situation than it already is so you kind of remove that side for the time being. I: So by removing yourself do you mean like, you = B: I ll deal, I ll deal ith it after ards. (Billy)

13 But I think you e gotta be able to keep work at ork a d he you re at ho e, ha e a ho e life. (Mitcho)

14 Humour as Transformative Certai ly he you e ee to i ide ts that erm where we lost...we ended up cracking a joke about it i that sort of I: Mmm. J: that s your ou sel as su h a d that s your release e ha is I: Yeah. J: a d that s your a d that s the ay you deal ith it you laugh about it and the you e o ed o. (John)

15 Conclusions Removing the self from care The felt self ou d to ertai spa es i.e. the pu p a d ho e, a t let pro le s get the etter of ou. Emotion/Feeling Challenge to overcome Feeli g ot o siste t ith ei g a FF, e tal halle ge to manage it and do the role. Culture of accountability as a Facilitator Fire work as embodied and performative. Impact? Lack of space to feel beyond FF construction

16 Contact Details Please contact me for any questions about my work, or for my reference list.