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The Embodied Emotion Management of Extrasensory Practitioners: a Reflexive Approach

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The Embodied Emotion Management of Extrasensory Practitioners: A Reflexive Approach Sarah Janet Olivia Roberts Doctor of Philosophy University of York Sociology February 2015 Abstract In this thesis I adopt a reflexive approach to examining the emotion management, identity work and the ethical and normative aspects of extrasensory practices. Using my own method of Systematic Emotional Embodied Reflexivity (SEER), the thesis draws upon ethnographic data (consisting of extensive involvement within esoteric/new age subcultures, participant observations at a mediumship training college and interviews with practitioners and spiritualist leaders) to provide a sociological analysis of the relational considerations which underpin extrasensory work. Key findings suggest that the ideal of authenticity guides the identity work that practitioners do; however the data indicate that authenticity is more spiritually complex than it appears. Practitioners claim their interactions are significantly embodied, based not simply on thought and feeling but also on bodily senses and cues. In sum effective emotion management for the extrasensory practitioner involves achieving distance from the self in order to successfully present Spirit to the recipient. Nevertheless, ethical considerations often provide practitioners with interactional dilemmas contradicting the detached experiences they report. Using SEER to account for my own extrasensory experiences within the field, allowed me to experience emotion management as reported by the participants and facilitated reflective analysis. 2 List of Contents Abstract 2 Contents 3 List of Figures 7 Acknowledgements 8 Declaration of Originality 10 Chapter 1: Introducing the sociological significance of 11 extrasensory practitioners Introduction 11 Chapter overview 12 Aims and objectives of this thesis 12 Defining ‘extrasensory practitioners’ 14 Other issues to consider 17 Extrasensory practices in contemporary UK culture 18 The development of current spiritualism and spiritualist philosophy 19 The positive and negative responses of extrasensory practices 25 Bias within extrasensory research and the necessity of researcher 28 reflexivity The author’s own involvement with the extrasensory 35 Sociology and the extrasensory 37 Marginality 37 Gendered work practices 40 Bereavement and extrasensory practices 40 Authenticity, trust, context and language in extrasensory 42 practices The language of psychic practitioners 44 The importance of studying emotions, experience and the body 45 within extrasensory work Emotion management and extrasensory practitioners 46 Chapter-by-Chapter Outline 48 Chapter 2: Emotion management, identity and extrasensory 52 practitioners Introduction 52 Conceptualising emotion 52 Hochschild’s The Managed Heart 55 Emotion management (and emotion work) 57 Emotional labour, surface acting and deep acting 58 The development of Hochschild’s work 61 Diverse forms of emotion management and identity work 62 Emotion management, client involvement and the role of the 69 practitioner’s body Conclusions 72 Chapter 3: The research process 75 Introduction 75 The ethnographic method 75 3 Reflexivity in fieldwork 77 Systematic Embodied and Emotional Reflexivity (SEER) 79 Summary of data collection 83 Sampling using social networking 85 Interviewing 86 College ethnography 88 Selecting the college setting 88 Gaining access to the college 89 The role of participant observer 91 Note taking, recording data and data management 92 Audio diaries 94 Hanging out with extrasensory practitioners 95 Ethical considerations 96 Data management and transcription 99 Data analysis: approach and procedure 99 Chapter 4: Seeing through the eyes of the believer 102 Introduction 102 Four stages of researcher emotion management 104 On a mission: my pro-practitioner phase 104 Becoming disheartened: my uncertain phase 105 Being an active believer: a new way of thinking 111 Being a sympathetic disbeliever 119 Summary 121 Chapter 5: So You Wants To Be A Medium? 124 A reflexive analysis of attending a mediumship training college Introduction 124 The History of the College 124 The College Setting 126 Educational Program 128 Structures and Constraints of the college 129 Applying Goffman to College Life: A descriptive account of the 131 introductory procedure Reflections on the introductory procedure 136 Social construction of Spirit 139 The philosophy of Spirit 139 Silence and its function 140 Ritualistic, embodied and emotional experience 142 Ethics, morals, values and the supportive nature of the college 143 Emotionality and disclosure within the college 144 The college and the extrasensory practitioner 145 Challenges to the students sense of self 145 Phenomenological exposure 147 Chapter 6: The social construction of practitioners’ 149 authenticity Introduction 149 ‘Authentic (extra-sensory) abilities’ and ‘Authentic (spiritual) 150 selfhood’ 4 Type 1: Authentic (extrasensory) abilities: Constructing one’s 152 abilities as genuine (both for others and self) Innate talent (or gift) 153 The practitioner as a ‘channel’ for Spirit 155 I. A practitioner’s relationship with Spirit guides 156 II. The practitioner embodying Spirit 157 III. Types of Spirit (channelled) information 162 Proof for the client that the information originates from Spirit 166 Strategies that clients have to test practitioners 168 Using third person accounts to increase authenticity 170 Communicating with Spirit without knowing how and without it 173 being a matter of choice Spiritualism and constructing the authentic (extrasensory) self 176 Professionalisation and ‘developing’ the authentic 180 (extrasensory) self Meditation 182 Type 2: Authentic (spiritual) selfhood: Living an authentic life/being 183 true to oneself Spirit and the practitioner 183 Spiritual knowledge and backgrounds 184 Spiritual characteristics and the preparation of the spiritual 185 body Absence of ulterior motive – working to ‘heal’ people not for the 187 money. Being true to the authentic spiritual self 189 Hard life experiences-making it possible to relate to people in a 190 genuine way The extrasensory practitioners (spiritual) management of ego 191 Discussion 195 Chapter 7: Embodied emotion management and ethics of 197 extrasensory practitioners Introduction 197 Experiencing Spirit Emotion 198 Preparation techniques for extrasensory work 203 Emotion management and ethics 214 The therapeutic, emotional and positivity of extrasensory advice 221 Extrasensory practitioners and emotion management during the 224 delivery of information Discussion 234 Chapter 8: Discussion and conclusion 238 Introduction and Chapter Aims 238 Summary of Thesis Findings 239 Contributions of this thesis 244 Contributions to research on emotions and the body 244 Contributions to research on anomalous experiences 246 Contributions to methodology 249 I. Methodological contributions and anomalous experiences 249 II. Methodological contributions and emotions and the body 251 Limitations and area of further study 252 5 Consumer involvement-limitations and areas of further 254 research Trance mediumship-areas of further research. 254 Statistics – areas of further research 254 Terminology- contributions and areas of further research. 255 Conclusions: Why has all of this mattered? 255 Appendices 257 Appendix 1: 1.1 Meditations (field notes) 257 Appendix 2: 2.1 Talktorials (field notes) 259 Appendix 3: 3.1 Group work (field notes) 269 Appendix 4: 4.1 Informed consent form 274 Appendix 5: 5.1 Interview guide 275 Appendix 6: 6.1 Key Participants 278 List of references 284 6 List of Figures Figure Chapter Three 3.1 SEER stages of data collection 81 3.2 Summary of Dataset 84 Chapter Four 4.1 A visual summary of the timeline of 122 the research process 4.2 The three stages of researchers 123 emotion management Chapter Five 5.1 Course Programme 128 7 Acknowledgements I would first like to express my gratitude to my supervisors Dr Merran Toerien and Professor Stevi Jackson for their continuous support and guidance. Merran you have been amazing, thank you for the encouragement and laughs but for also inspiring me to have a wider perspective on a subject I feel so passionately about. It is because of you that I enjoy research again. I express my deepest appreciation to the participants of the study that welcomed me into their magical world and freely gave their time and hospitality to make sure I understood their experiences. I have never laughed so much; I have seen parts of the world and had occurrences I never thought possible. I now truly believe that everything happens for a reason. I extend this appreciation to the Economic Social Research Council for funding this research awarding me with a three-year fee and maintenance grant. I would like to thank all fellow sociology colleagues old and new who have supported me. Thank you to Professor Robin Wooffitt for inspiring my interest in the Sociology of Anomalous Experiences. Thank you also to Dr. Claire Jackson for your valuable feedback and support. I would also like to thank Dr Anne Akeroyd for sharing her knowledge and references. Thank you to Phillip Stanworth for believing in me. Much love and appreciation goes to my friends and family. Karen Ashurst for introducing me to fresh coffee and tarot cards all those years ago, as well as showing me that going to university and being a parent were both possible. Linda Armstrong for all the years of free babysitting, advice and cooked dinners. Catherine Robson, Rachael Tordraighen and Kathryn Ball for keeping me upbeat and focused.
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