How organizational actors live out paradoxical tensions through power relations: The case of a youth prison

•A critical discursive analysis of qualitative data gathered at a youth prison.•Construction of control and resistance through individual responses to paradox.•Enactment of these power positions through collective responses to paradox.•These micro-dynamics contribute to the macro-level reproduction...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Organizational behavior and human decision processes Vol. 155; pp. 55 - 67
Main Authors: Wenzel, Matthias, Koch, Jochen, Cornelissen, Joep P., Rothmann, Wasko, Senf, N. Natalie
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier Inc 01.11.2019
Subjects:
Control–resistance dialectics
Discourse
Paradox
Power
Prison
Prison
Paradox
Discourse
Power
Control–resistance dialectics
ISSN:0749-5978, 1095-9920
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:•A critical discursive analysis of qualitative data gathered at a youth prison.•Construction of control and resistance through individual responses to paradox.•Enactment of these power positions through collective responses to paradox.•These micro-dynamics contribute to the macro-level reproduction of the status quo. Drawing on a critical discursive analysis of qualitative data gathered at a juvenile detention facility, this study explores how organizational actors live out paradoxes through enacting power relations. Based on our analysis, we elaborate a theoretical framework that conceptualizes (1) individual, role-based responses to paradox through which actors construct positions of control and resistance; (2) collective responses to paradox through which organizational members enact these power positions; and (3) the macro-level effects of such dynamics. Our findings demonstrate how micro-level power struggles keep paradoxical tensions in play. Furthermore, our study shows how, ironically, such struggles participate in the macro-level reproduction of the status quo.
ISSN:0749-5978
1095-9920
DOI:10.1016/j.obhdp.2019.03.001