Humor in the Emergency Room: A Social Work Perspective

The Use of Aberrant Medical Humor by Psychiatric Unit Staff

“…Although aberrant medical humor has been documented as a valued coping strategy that releases tension, resolves role con ict, and reduces boredom, thus preventing staff from taking out their frustrations on patients (Morreall, 1991;van Wormer & Boes, 1997), it should be emphasized that humor always contains some degree of aggression. The extent to which joking affects actual behavior towards patients is unclear from the present study.…”

Language matters: towards an understanding of silence and humour in medical education

“…68,69 Exploring these questions might improve our understanding of the sophisticated functions of humour in medical education situations, particularly if we build on existing humour research. This scholarship has established a range of functions of humour and laughter in social interactions, including as emotion management tools, 70 as a means of increasing intimacy through conversational play, 71 as a strategy for reducing stress, 72,73 as a way of modulating strong disagreements in cross-cultural settings, 74 and as a means of group demarcation. 75 As such functions suggest, power is a central feature in episodes of humour and laughter, just as it is in episodes of silence.…”

Humor in middle management: women negotiating the paradoxes of organizational life

“…One manager (Carole) described the long process of procuring expensive emergency medical equipment, while others (Gwen, Erin, and Roy) made fun of her accomplishment: Women,Humor and Organizational Paradox 159 The other managers reacted with humor to Carole's obvious pride in solving her problem without spending any zoo resources. At one level the initiation of humor in response to the story could be read as gallows humor, humor about death (van Wormer & Boes, 1997), and playful banter, but a closer inspection of the multiple attempts to initiate humor suggests insights into the competitive marginalization of women middle managers. For example, the ironic suggestion that the significance of the AED procurement merited a new sign on zoo grounds diminished Carole's achievements.…”