How Do Social Workers Cope with Hopeless Missions and Dirty Work? A Biographical Approach to Class and Gender Variations

Abstract This article looks at the work of legal guardians in Switzerland. They are civil servants, typically qualified social workers, responsible for implementing protective measures (“safeguarding”) for adults considered vulnerable. This work can be understood as “dirty work.” Professionals must provide imposed help to individuals who are often non-consenting. They carry out coercive tasks that are considered morally questionable. Furthermore, guardians interact with stigmatized individuals, which can expose them to the risk of stigma contamination. Finally, they are entrusted with caring for “unplaceable” individuals, those who have often exhausted all other forms of private or institutional support. The article explores how legal guardians cope with this “dirty work.” We distinguish two ideal typical ways of coping, which depend on class and gender socialization, and social mobility patterns. The first coping strategy involves extensively investing in the norms of solicitude, thereby framing guardianship as morally noble work. This approach is primarily adopted by women who have internalized an ethic of care. They engage deeply in relationships with the individuals under their protection, finding personal satisfaction in their work while performing significant emotional labor. The second strategy prioritizes the application of legal norms and the execution of administrative tasks. These professionals, although they can be women, have developed dispositions typically associated with masculinity, such as a positive attitude to coercion. This strategy allows them to legitimize and revalorize their work. By partially avoiding the emotional “dirty work” with service users, they also shield themselves from the various stigmas associated with “undesired” populations.