ROLE TAKING AND ROLE MAKING AMONG FEMALE RED CROSS WORKERS IN VIETNAM

This research analyzes responses from in-depth interviews with twenty women who worked for the Red Cross in Viet Nam. Narratives demonstrate role conflict resulting from conflictive expectations for behavior within their role set and between role expectations and identity. A new source of role conflict is identified involving conflict between role and environment. Analysis of responses to role conflict revealed role taking and role making. Variation in these responses was associated with amount and source of conflict, with age while in Viet Nam and with their motivation for going to Viet Nam. INTRODUCTION Accounts of individuals who work in nontraditional gender settings can inform us of social role behavior that results when expectations are ambiguous, conflictive, or in transition (Silver 1996). This paper builds on previous literature by examining the behavior of women expected to enact a traditionally nurturing, female occupational role in a dangerous, male dominated environment. Specifically, we analyze the retrospective accounts of women who worked for the American National Red Cross in Viet Nam between 1965 and 1972. All interviews were completed in 1992 meaning that the incidents respondents were recalling occurred between 20 27 years earlier. On the one hand we acknowledge that these women's accounts may have been "reconstructed" over the years. On the other hand, while some qualitative researchers argue that the researcher must remain skeptical and constantly worry about deception, others suggest that a "believed" interviewee is more likely to trust the interviewer and relate the "truth" (Abel 1987; Andersen 1987; Reinharz 1992). Furthermore, one of the authors served as a Red Cross worker in South Korea, the insights from her experience provided a basis for assessing the veracity of the women's commentaries. In addition some life events are so salient that memories remain intact over long periods of time. Experiences occurring during wartime seem to fit this category. Finally our study was exploratory in nature and designed to provide a rich, detailed account of the nature of these women's experiences. 1 In addition to role conflict emanating from conflicting expectations and a self/role misfit, their experiences reflect a previously unexplored source of role conflict, a misfit between formal role expectations and the realities of the work environment. Polarized behavioral expectations according to sex have resulted in certain settings being defined as typically male or typically female, depending on the characteristics and behaviors perceived as appropriate for that setting. Many of these social settings such as fraternities and sororities, are relatively sex segregated . Segregation based on sex is still prevalent and was the norm during the Viet Nam conflict. When enactment of work roles requires that individuals perform traditional gendertyped behaviors in settings typically associated with the opposite sex, the potential for role conflict is heightened (Zurcher 1983). Role conflict arises from the incongruity between gender-based expectations and the behaviors required by the environment. The focus of this paper is role conflict among female Red Cross workers in a traditionally male setting, war, and their responses to the resulting strain. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of our study for individuals whose paid work expectations conflict with the realities of their workplace. THEORETICALFRAMBNORK The symbolic interactionist perspective on role behavior as originally presented by Mead (1934) and refined by Blumer (1969), Goffman (1961a, 1961b), Turner (1962, 1968, 1978, 1979-1980, 1985, 1990), and Zurcher (1983), views roles as arising from social interaction and the interpretive process used by individuals. Within this framework, individuals do not just perform roles, but actively adjust them as necessary. Thus if individuals are in situations or organizations where behavioral expectations are ambiguous or conflicting, they may engage in altering or otherwise establishing a workable role. 26 Volume 31 No. 1 May 2003 For example, Zimmer (1986, 1987) distinguished between three different responses of women prison guards to employment in a male occupation. First were-those who chose the "institutional role" in an attempt to follow male expectations and insulate themselves from male criticism (Zimmer 1986 110). Second were women who adopted a "modified role" by attempting to limit direct contact with prisoners and rely on male coworkers for support (Zimmer 1986 110-11 ). Last were women who engaged in "inventive roles" who used stereo typically female defined traits (intuition, superior communication skills) to win the respect of prisoners (Zimmer 1986 111 ). It appears that gender-based identities and concomitant role behaviors may be both flexible and context related (Moore 1999). Kanter's examination of role behaviors among token female executives at "lndsco" revealed a variety of responses to performance pressures and boundary heightening experienced in different workplace contexts. She illustrated how a shift in proportions of men and women in a work group influenced the working experience of members, and how women made adjustments to their work role based on their working environment (Kanter 1977: 212). In particular women in groups with a preponderance of men ("tokens") respond to heightened performance pressures by altering their roles to fit their experiences (Kanter 1977: 222; Yoder & Aniakudo 1997). Supporting Kanter's work, Ely (1995) found that women in male-dominated firms chose a variety of ways of enacting roles to resist persistent devaluation of women . Some became accommodators emphasizing stereotypical gender role traits, while others rejected traditional roles, attempting to redefine their roles in a more positive light (Ely 1995). The experiences of women employed in bureaucratic settings dominated by men fits Gottman's framework (1961a) in which he discriminated between disruptive and contained secondary adjustments to work in formal organizations. The former disrupt the operation of the organization by producing organizational change. The latter can result in the smoother operation of the organization through a better "fir between the individual and the organization's structure . Gottman noted that secondary adjustments vary by position within the hierarchy of the organization. Those individuals at the bottom have Free Inquiry In Creative Sociology less attachment and commitment to the organization and will engage in a greater number of secondary adjustments. "They have jobs not careers" (Gottman 1961a 201; Ely 1995). Enactment of roles within ambiguous situations frequently results in role strain. Goode ( 1960 493) proposed that role strain, "the difficulty of fulfilling role demands," was normal and arose from conflict between or within roles. Role conflict can result from friction associated with two different roles that occur simultaneously, or from conflicting expectations from one particular role . Turner (1990) further conceptualized role conflict as a misfit between expected behaviors and identity. We extend Goode's and Turner's conceptualization of role conflict to include situations in which there is a misfit between role demands and the expectations associated with the setting in which the role is played (see also Spradley & Mann 1975; Kanter 1977; Zurcher 1983; Zimmer 1986; Ely 1995; and Katila & Merilainen 1999). In this situation, role performance is often problematic because expectations for behavior are incongruous or inappropriate to the setting. While there are potential similarities between men and women's experiences in a war setting, women faced unique conflicts by working in a male environment. 2 As individuals experience role conflict, they will attempt to negotiate their roles to alleviate the strain through a variety of behaviors. Turner (1956, 1962) initially distinguished between role making and role taking . Role taking involves "choosing the institutional role" and meeting the performance expectations of others (Turner 1956, 1962; Kanter 1977 110). On the other hand, role making involves modifying or recreating role expectations to be more consistent with the prevailing social context (Turner 1956, 1962; Kanter 1977; Ely 1995; Moore 1999). Zurcher (1983) further distinguished between attempts to change expectations for existing roles and attempts to create a new role . Another strategy, role distancing, was introduced by Gottman (1961b). If attempts to satisfactorily negotiate roles fail, individuals may simply exit particular roles, physically distancing themselves from the setting (Goode 1960). Studies that examined role behavior in nontraditional settings describe a variety of responses to role conflict. Spradley and Mann Free Inquiry In Creative Sociology (1975) examined cocktail waitresses in a bar where patrons were typically male. Conflict between the men and women was diffused through joking. Zurcher's (1983) examination of male "hashers" in a sorority house found that the hashers attempted to alleviate conflict by creating new roles and by role distancing. Zimmer's (1986) study found three adaptations among female prison guards working in a male prison: institutional, modified and inventive roles. Kanter's (1977 230) examination of workers at "lndsco" highlighted how "tokens" engaged in role encapsulation, in which stereotypical gender role assumptions forced women into playing limited and caricatured roles as they became assimilated in the organization. As Zimmer (1987) noted, some of the female prison guards in her study adapted their work roles to include stereotypical feminine traits, and their adaptations proved highly successful. Recent research on women working in male dominated law firms adopted masculinetyped aggressiveness and instrumentality, while others attempted to modify the typical role by attributing s