Unspeakable emotion - A discursive analysis of police talk about reactionsto trauma

In contrast to traditional psychological theories that conceptualize emotio ns as discrete intrapsychic phenomena, the present study considers emotions as social constructions. A discursive analysis of interviews with 12 polic e officers was undertaken, to develop a. situated understanding of the cons truction and function of emotion in the culture of the New Zealand police. Two conflicting discourses of emotion were identified: a discourse of emoti onal disclosure in which discussion of emotions was constructed as a normal and healthy human activity and a discourse of unspeakability in which emot ions were framed as dangerous and threatening to performance, demanding man agement and control. Both of these discourses were drawn on by the majority of respondents and were contextually contingent. We argue that strategic d eployment of these discourses enables officers to present themselves as bot h culturally and professionally competent.