What’s So Funny?

Gouin, Rachel

doi:10.1177/1468794104041106

Cited by 23 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…Beyond humor's positive attributes, participants shared their perceptions of its complexities which complements and expounds upon the existing research (Christensen, 2020; Gouin, 2004). Participants viewed humor as complicated, universal yet individualized, and impossible to get right every time with everyone.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The benefit, harm, and complication of humor in social work: A qualitative inquiry

Ocean,

Gordon

2024

Journal of Social Work

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Summary The use of humor in social work is an underrecognized and underexplored area of practice despite its potential to heal, harm, and complicate communication. To date, very minimal scholarship has been published on humor in social work. Therefore, this qualitative study sought to examine how social workers use, perceive, and experience humor. Data were gathered from 22 participants who identified as social workers via an online survey. Data also included learning artifacts (e.g., discussion board posts, humor therapy treatment plans) from 19 graduate-level social work students who completed a humor in social work course in the northeast region of the United States. Both datasets were analyzed thematically. Findings Participants perceived social workers as using humor in clearly distinct ways, as a tool to promote generative growth, and as a weapon to harm already marginalized populations. In total, participant responses highlight the complexities of humor, including its subjective and dynamic nature, which can lead to multiple and sometimes conflicting experiences. Applications The findings suggest that social workers view humor positively, yet they engage in its use without adequate training, strategy, and reflection, sometimes violating professional ethics. Results further indicate that social workers will continue to employ humor in their professional work to the benefit and detriment of those around them. To support reflective and informed practice, additional research is needed on the use and misuse of humor in social work.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Humor is complicated, multifaceted, and contextually situated. Therefore, to argue it is always good or bad is to oversimplify a very complex process (Gouin, 2004). Similarly, we need to hold multiple truths simultaneously in social work and acknowledge that the humorous and the serious can coexist (Witkin, 1999).…”

Section: The Complexities Of Humormentioning

confidence: 99%

The benefit, harm, and complication of humor in social work: A qualitative inquiry

Ocean,

Gordon

2024

Journal of Social Work

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“…Due to this preference, women have been shown to strategically appreciate the humour of more attractive men (Chapter 2), perhaps as a sign of 'submission', as Provine would suggest laughter is (2000). Similarly, in intersexual group conversations, females are less likely to use humour (Smith-Lovin & Brody, 1989) and, in intrasexual conversations, women appear to use humour to bond with each other (Gouin, 2004). If females tend to use humour in a more cooperative sense, using funny stimuli in a forced choice task such as this may not be appropriate.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The topics women joke about also provide insight into the function of humour in women-only groups. Qualitative research by Gouin (2004) has shown women might use humour to discuss particularly more serious subjects, such as feeling marginalised and their perception of living in a male-dominated society, suggesting that humour might be a way of coping and bonding over shared problems (Gouin, 2004) or helping them to define the issues they face (Robinson & Smith-Lovin, 2001). Women may therefore be more likely to use humour to more easily broach serious subjects when they are speaking to other women.…”

Section: Humour Use In Competitive Contextsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effects of relationship context and modality on ratings of funniness

Cowan

Little

2013

Personality and Individual Differences

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“…Finally, humour is also serving as a mechanism for establishing social relationships and as an emotional coping strategy (Sanders, 2004). As such humour is a multi-functional (Holmes, 2000), multi-dimensional (Gouin, 2004) and perhaps spatially embedded concept (Ridanpää, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Affective spaces, humour and power in 24-hour care institutions for young people in vulnerable positions

Christensen

2020

Qualitative Social Work

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This article examines humour and its connectedness to spatiality in social work by drawing on examples from fieldwork involving vulnerable young people. The article argues that the relationship between a spatial perspective and humour as a phenomenon in social work is an underdeveloped area of social work research. The article draws on De Certeau’s concepts of tactical behaviour and strategically defined spaces, both of which involve a dynamic spatial approach. Connecting these concepts to humour, the article concludes that applying a humour-affective spatial theoretical approach to social work research greatly aids the identification of power dynamics and the tensions that can arise in social situations. In short, the article offers another way of conceptualising the production of the spatial dynamics of power, inclusion and exclusion. The empirical basis for the article is a comprehensive field study carried out at a 24-hour residential institution for children and youth in vulnerable positions.

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What’s So Funny?

Cited by 23 publications

References 43 publications

The benefit, harm, and complication of humor in social work: A qualitative inquiry

The benefit, harm, and complication of humor in social work: A qualitative inquiry

The effects of relationship context and modality on ratings of funniness

Affective spaces, humour and power in 24-hour care institutions for young people in vulnerable positions

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