INTERPRETATIONS OF STRESS IN INSTITUTIONS - THE CULTURAL PRODUCTION OF AMBIGUITY AND BURNOUT

This ethnographic study of interpretations of stress among hospital so cial workers reveals concrete ways in which institutional systems take form in the mundane actions and interpretations of individuals embedd ed in these systems, It also reveals how organizational cultures refle ct and reinforce institutional conditions that have been negotiated in the interactions of individuals, Here, the institutional systems of m edicine and social work come together in the everyday work of the soci al workers and result in two patterns of cultural dominance, Within th ese distinct types of culture emerge two forms of stress experience, i ncluding a dominant form, consistent with medical ideology, and a marg inalized form, consistent with social work ideology, Some surprising p atterns of interpretation emerge, including interpretations of ambigui ty and burnout as normal, social, and desirable when the social work i deology is dominant, This institutional analysis of stress has theoret ical, practical, and epistemological implications.