Citation

Roth JA. Am. J. Sociol. 1972; 77(5): 839-856.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1972, University of Chicago Press)

DOI

10.1086/225227

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

One important aspect of the control of behavior of patients and visitors on a hospital emergency service is the moral evaluation of the clients made by the staff. Such evaluation arises from the application of concepts of social worth common in the larger society and from staff concepts of appropriate work role. The process, however, is not a simple cause-effect matter, but the product of a reciprocal relationship between the attributes of the client and the categories of the staff. Emergency department staff, like other service occupations, attempt to establish mechanisms of control over inappropriate demands for service.