IALH Research Fellow Damien Contandriopoulos has co-authored a new research article entitled Fake kindness, Caring and Symbolic Violence. Collaborating authors include Natalie Stake-Doucet and Joanna Schilling.

Abstract:

The article starts by offering a definition of fake kindness focused on the dissociation between the behavioural components of kindness and the intent to sincerely pay some heed to the needs of others. Using the sociological theory of Pierre Bourdieu this definition is then used to articulate how fake kindness can be conceptualized as a specific form of symbolic violence. Such a view allows explaining how and why the prevalence and effectiveness of fake kindness vary according to microsociological norms and values.

The generic definition and conceptualization of fake kindness as a form or symbolic violence are then used to discuss how nursing’s enthrallment with the concept of caring and its operationalization as a moral compass likely fosters the growth of fake kindness within the profession. In this view, the institutional enforcement of propriety and well-behaved professionalism is more likely to lead to toxic environments than to healthy workplaces.

We hope that being able to understand how professional norms and institutional rules are often turned into social tools to enforce obedience and existing hierarchies can empower victims of those phenomena to resist them more effectively.

To read the full article, see https://doi.org/10.1177/09697330231209290