Identity and Emotional Labor in Resisting Violence in Care Work

Abstract Care work is crossed by important contradictions. We work on understanding the discourses on daily practices related to workplace violence and professional identity, and, in analyzing the associations between emotional demands and psychological distress (PD), investigating the mediating role of job satisfaction (JS) in care work for people living with a disability and/or social vulnerability. Methods: This research was empirically analytical, cross-sectional, and partially mixed, composed of two studies (qualitative and quantitative). Participants were workers from two Chilean organizations that assist elderly people or patients with intellectual or mental disabilities. Results: Care work exposes workers to high psychological and emotional demands that are associated with PD. Likewise, JS as a dimension related to the identity component is negatively related to PD. Thus, JS is a mediating variable between emotional and psychological demands. The meaning of work and the “vocation of service” allows workers to elaborate positive narratives about their daily work experiences despite exposure to aggression. Conclusions: Professional identity of care workers is strongly linked to their vocational character, which implies risks for those who perform it due to the impossibility of dissociating tasks from relational aspects. Workplace violence is usually trivialized, and the negative emotional correlate is hidden in this work.