Face attack and patients’ response strategies in a Kenyan hospital
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Date
2010
Authors
Ogutu, E.A.
Ojwang, B.O.
Matu, P. M.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Wiley
Abstract
Social power can be exercised by face attack where power differentials are
sufficiently great and significant retaliation or sanctions are unlikely. Such
exercise of social power is common in military contexts. It is not commonly
observed in hospital settings yet some nurses in Kenya’s public hospitals
routinely attack the face of their patients. Using data from interactions
observed in a provincial hospital, it is illustrated how nurses initiate conflict
and how patients counter the face-attackingmoves. The investigation shows
that nurses use a high frequency of utterances that violate the dignity of
patientswhile the latter prefer conflict avoidance strategies.Nurses generally
make no attempt to mitigate the impact of most of their face-threatening
utterances while patients demonstrate awareness of the need to preserve
mutual face and reclaim dignity. Three strategies used by patients to reclaim
dignity – namely silence, retaliatory face damage and face repair – are
illustrated.
Description
DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9841.2010.00449.x
Keywords
impoliteness, Dignity, face attack, social power, retaliation, face repair
Citation
Journal of Sociolinguistics Volume 14, Issue 4, pages 501–523, September 2010