Boundary practices at incident sites

Abstract

Purpose-Incident sites can be described as the joint work site of the emergency services, where one of their challenges is to interact with the public. The purpose of this paper is to study how this interaction is structured by the emergency personnel's jurisdictional claims. Design/methodology/approach-This paper rests upon qualitative method and in-depth interviews. In total, 28 people have been interviewed, out of which 13 are emergency personnel and 15 are unaffiliated volunteers. The interview material has been analysed qualitatively and thematically by the authors. Findings-The findings show that the interaction between emergency personnel and unaffiliated volunteers can be described in terms of three different boundary practices: cordoning off, division of labour and conversation, varying in degrees of inclusion and exclusion. The result shows that the emergency personnel's relationship to volunteers is ambivalent, as they are both seen as an uncertain element at the incident site in need of control and as a valuable source of information. Originality/value-While most other studies have been focusing on the interaction between emergency organizations, the authors have investigated the interaction between emergency organizations and a group previously unstudied: unaffiliated volunteers. While sociologists in the field of boundary work normally describe boundary practices in terms of negotiation, sympathizing with the concept of negotiated order, the results point to the fact that boundaries are not necessarily a subject for negotiation.

Boundary Work to Conduct Business as Usual: Interaction at the Boundary Between the Affected Organization and Emergency Responders

“…Because I am interested in the interaction between a temporary workplace situated in a permanent workplace, social boundaries are of the most interest to me here. Certainly, material or spatial boundaries are not less significant; rather, as underlined by Kvarnlöf and Johansson (, p. 67), they are “… social in their consequences.” For example, cordoning off the workplace of the emergency personnel not only involves placing a material boundary around the workplace but also has symbolic value, indicating that although a material boundary such as a caution tape is easily crossed, respect is shown because of the socially inscribed cultural norms (Kvarnlöf & Johansson, ).…”

“…Social boundaries have been studied from several different perspectives, often in relation to sociological categories, such as distinguishing between people by class (Massey & Denton, ), ethnicity (Jenkins, ), and gender (Lamont & Molnar, ). More relevant to this paper, boundaries have been used as an analytical tool at an organizational level to study the formation of boundaries between different professions and occupational groups (Abbott, ; Allen, ), professionals and clients (Malin, ), and between professionals and lay people (Kvarnlöf & Johansson ).…”

“…At an organizational level, a central aspect of boundary work is the construction of boundaries to separate and distinguish between professions and workplaces. For example, one of the purposes of boundary work is to monopolize, that is, to claim sole right to a profession or practice by excluding rivals, or as Kvarnlöf and Johansson (, p. 67) expressed it, by categorizing others as “outsiders” or “amateurs.”…”

“…Thus, the location accommodates two workplaces, one permanent and one temporary. The temporary workplace is called the incident site and belongs to the emergency services; this site is characterized by a rescue organizational context, indicating that it brings the emergency services together with certain jurisdictional claims (Kvarnl€ of & Johansson, 2014). These jurisdictional claims suggest legal recognition to determine the area of work that implies a sovereign legitimacy to work at the site (Abbott, 1988).…”

“…Consequently, the emergency services can control who is included and excluded. The relationships with others are characterized by the jurisdictional claims of the emergency responders (Kvarnl€ of & Johansson, 2014).…”