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The identity literature suggests that the stigma of "dirty work" threatens the ability of occupational members to construct an esteem-enhancing social identity. However, research indicates much the opposite, creating a puzzle we attempt to answer. We argue that the stigma of dirty work fosters development of a strong occupational or workgroup culture, which fosters (1) ideological reframing, recalibrating, and refocusing and (2) selective social comparisons and differential weighting of outsiders' views. These defense mechanisms transform the meaning of "dirt" and moderate the impact of social perceptions of dirtiness.
I have this question lots of times: "How can I take it?" They ask if I'm calm when I bury people. If you stop and think, a funeral is one of the natural things in the world. . . I enjoy it very much, especially in summer (a gravedigger, quoted in Terkel, 1975: 661).
Oil field trash and damn proud of it (from a T-- shirt worn by workers on an oil rig, courtesy of Roger Mayer, personal communication).
Everett Hughes (1951) invoked the term dirty work to refer to tasks and occupations that are likely to be perceived as disgusting or degrading. Hughes (1962) observed that society delegates dirty work to groups who act as agents on society's behalf, and that society then stigmatizes these groups, effectively disowning and disavowing the work it has mandated. As we will argue, group members are seen to personify the dirty work such that they become, literally, "dirty workers."
This phenomenon raises a provocative issue for organizational behavior. As we discuss later, identity research indicates that people typically seek to see themselves in a positive light, and this positive sense of self is largely grounded in socially important and salient roles-including occupations-and how those roles are perceived by others. Thus, given the stigma of dirty work, it seems likely that dirty workers would have a very difficult time constructing a positive sense of self, at least in the workplace. However, abundant qualitative research from a wide variety of occupations indicates that people performing dirty work tend to retain relatively high occupational esteem and pride (e.g., Emerson & Pollner, 1976; Gold, 1964; Heinsler, Kleinman, & Stenross, 1990; Hong & Duff, 1977; McIntyre, 1987; Meara, 1974; Perry, 1978; Simpson & Simpson,...