Spiritual labor and spiritual dissonance in the total institution of the parochial boarding school

Abstract

This qualitative project introduces the concept of "spiritual labor" as the organizational commodification, codification, and regulation of members' spirituality. The study illustrates how the spirituality of teachers/staff in a parochial boarding school system is part of the commodity or service such schools have to offer. The spirituality of teachers/staff was also codified both officially in organizational documents and unofficially in the form of unspoken but identifiable norms and values. Regulation of the spirituality of teachers/staff was enacted formally via confrontation, termination, and transfer. Informal regulation of spirituality occurred via concertive control of other organizational members. Spiritual dissonance was also present when faculty/staff members did not personally believe or privately practice the doctrines of their sponsoring church yet appeared compliant by word, deed, or continued organizational affiliation. Organizational members had a number of strategies for dealing with spiritual dissonance. This study also placed parochial boarding schools in the category of total institutions illustrating how the panopticon might be enacted in a contemporary organization. Keywords: concertive control, dissonance, emotional labor, Goffman, panopticon, spiritual labor, spirituality, total institutions.