The Emotional Interaction of Judicial Objectivity
Like other Western legal systems, the Swedish legal system constructs objectivity as an unemotional state of being. We argue that the enactment of objectivity in situ relies on objectivity work including emotion management and empathy. Building on qualitative interviews and observations in Swedish d...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Oñati International Institute for the Sociology of Law
2018-10-01
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| Series: | Oñati Socio-Legal Series |
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| Online Access: | https://opo.iisj.net/index.php/osls/article/view/1076 |
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| _version_ | 1850267985862721536 |
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| author | Stina Bergman Blix Åsa Wettergren |
| author_facet | Stina Bergman Blix Åsa Wettergren |
| author_sort | Stina Bergman Blix |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Like other Western legal systems, the Swedish legal system constructs objectivity as an unemotional state of being. We argue that the enactment of objectivity in situ relies on objectivity work including emotion management and empathy. Building on qualitative interviews and observations in Swedish district courts, we analyse courtroom interaction through a dramaturgical lens, highlighting tacit signals and interprofessional emotional communication aimed to secure objective procedures, while sustaining the ideal of unemotional objectivity. By analytically separating objectivity from impartiality, we show that judges’ objective performances balance empathic attunement and restrained expressions to uphold an impartial presentation. Prosecutors take pride in maintaining objectivity in spite of being partial, fostering the ability to switch between engagement and disengagement depending on the strength of the case. The requirement for legal professionals to be autonomous demands skillful inter-professional emotional attuning. Thereby, collaborative professional emotion management achieves the ideal of justice as being objective. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-d6c4ecd388114575aaf657db33bcbb66 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2079-5971 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2018-10-01 |
| publisher | Oñati International Institute for the Sociology of Law |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Oñati Socio-Legal Series |
| spelling | doaj-art-d6c4ecd388114575aaf657db33bcbb662025-08-20T01:53:35ZengOñati International Institute for the Sociology of LawOñati Socio-Legal Series2079-59712018-10-019572674610.35295/osls.iisl/0000-0000-0000-1031987The Emotional Interaction of Judicial ObjectivityStina Bergman Blix0Åsa Wettergren1Uppsala UniversityUniversity of GothenburgLike other Western legal systems, the Swedish legal system constructs objectivity as an unemotional state of being. We argue that the enactment of objectivity in situ relies on objectivity work including emotion management and empathy. Building on qualitative interviews and observations in Swedish district courts, we analyse courtroom interaction through a dramaturgical lens, highlighting tacit signals and interprofessional emotional communication aimed to secure objective procedures, while sustaining the ideal of unemotional objectivity. By analytically separating objectivity from impartiality, we show that judges’ objective performances balance empathic attunement and restrained expressions to uphold an impartial presentation. Prosecutors take pride in maintaining objectivity in spite of being partial, fostering the ability to switch between engagement and disengagement depending on the strength of the case. The requirement for legal professionals to be autonomous demands skillful inter-professional emotional attuning. Thereby, collaborative professional emotion management achieves the ideal of justice as being objective.https://opo.iisj.net/index.php/osls/article/view/1076emotion managementempathyobjectivityimpartialityswedish courtslegal professionalstacit signalsemotional communication |
| spellingShingle | Stina Bergman Blix Åsa Wettergren The Emotional Interaction of Judicial Objectivity Oñati Socio-Legal Series emotion management empathy objectivity impartiality swedish courts legal professionals tacit signals emotional communication |
| title | The Emotional Interaction of Judicial Objectivity |
| title_full | The Emotional Interaction of Judicial Objectivity |
| title_fullStr | The Emotional Interaction of Judicial Objectivity |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Emotional Interaction of Judicial Objectivity |
| title_short | The Emotional Interaction of Judicial Objectivity |
| title_sort | emotional interaction of judicial objectivity |
| topic | emotion management empathy objectivity impartiality swedish courts legal professionals tacit signals emotional communication |
| url | https://opo.iisj.net/index.php/osls/article/view/1076 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT stinabergmanblix theemotionalinteractionofjudicialobjectivity AT asawettergren theemotionalinteractionofjudicialobjectivity AT stinabergmanblix emotionalinteractionofjudicialobjectivity AT asawettergren emotionalinteractionofjudicialobjectivity |