Lisa Flower
Associate Professor | Associate Senior Lecturer
Doing loyalty: subtle dramas in emotional courtrooms
Author
Summary, in English
The courtroom work of defence lawyers has received surprisingly little sociological attention leading to the question: how do defence lawyers represent their client beyond the hard paragraphs of the law? By studying this phenomenon in a context where the scope for expressive gestures is limited, it is possible to gain a greater understanding into the often subtle ways in which legal teamwork is performed. Furthermore, the underlying emotional regime will become discernible. This article draws on ethnographic field notes from courtrooms in Sweden to explore how defence lawyers who have taken an oath to loyally represent clients, do this using (1) little dramatic productions, (2) little dramatic reductions, and (3) direction of teammates. These strategies involve the use of props and the body in order to perform vicarious face saving practices necessary to maintain professional face, teamface and to manage face threats. In these ways, defence lawyers are able to construct or undermine facts using nonverbal communication and emotion management. Each of these strategies reproduce and reinforce the emotional regime of the courtroom. The findings thus show how defence lawyers not only represent their clients juridically but also interactionally.
Department/s
- Sociology
Publishing year
2016-03-10
Language
English
Pages
61-61
Document type
Conference paper: abstract
Topic
- Sociology (excluding Social Work, Social Psychology and Social Anthropology)
Keywords
- Emotion
- law
- impression management
- emotion management
- Goffman
Conference name
Sociologidagarna 2016
Conference date
2016-03-10 - 2016-03-12
Conference place
Gothenburg, Sweden
Status
Published