Crying as Communication in Domestic Helper Narratives: Towards a Social Psychology of Crying in Discourse

Hans J. Ladegaard*

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

    14 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Most research on adult crying is based on questionnaires or laboratory studies, and few studies have looked at crying in discourse. This article reports on a study of life stories of foreign domestic helpers (FDHs) in Hong Kong. The stories, which were recorded in a church shelter, are trauma narratives characterised by repeated crying. The article provides first, an overview of the themes that led the women to cry in the 89 crying events that were identified, and second, a discourse analysis of six selected excerpts. The analyses suggest that crying events should be seen as discursive accomplishments among group members. The article also provides evidence of a link between crying and catharsis, and it questions the common assumption that crying is a desirable form of emotional expression. Finally, the article discusses some possible functions of crying and proposes the first step towards a social psychological theory of crying in discourse.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)579-605
    Number of pages27
    JournalJournal of Language and Social Psychology
    Volume33
    Issue number6
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 26 Dec 2014

    User-Defined Keywords

    • crying and catharsis
    • discourse analysis
    • foreign domestic helpers
    • social psychology of crying
    • theories of crying

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