Discretion, Cognition and Embodiment in Process: Days and Nights With 911 Dispatchers

Abstract

This doctoral dissertation re-conceptualizes discretion, cognition and culture in action as well as body and embodiment, investigating them through an empirical analysis of data from three years of field work in a 911 communication center. This project employs a renewed concept of discretion, as well as notions such as “the desired state of mind,” “controlled empathy,” “foregrounding” and “visualization.” It considers the nuances, dynamics and requirements in the bureaucratic classification process through the Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system, the division of labor within and without the communication center, the status inequality and power dynamics in the network of public safety professions, as well as the broader organizational and policy settings. Merging literature on discretion, street-level bureaucracy, culture and cognition, emotional labor, body and embodiment as well as conversation analysis, and analyzing ethnographic data, this dissertation provides novel insights into modern-day organizations and criminal justice system, as well as an in-depth and contextualized look into the process and consequence of the work of the 911 communication system.