Culture, identity and image in an English hospice : an ethnographic study

Baron, A

Abstract

This study examines the cultural changes found within an English Hospice from its altruistic
beginnings to the more professionalized culture of today. The study seeks to understand how
its members identify with an organization where issues of life and death take centre stage
and explores some of the problems that the Hospice faces regarding its image in society.
These strands are then drawn together to consider the interrelationship between
organizational culture, identity and image.
An ethnographic approach was used including participant observation, extended interviews
and group meetings over a period of almost two years. This enabled the production of a
nuanced, sensitive and holistic interpretation of the Hospice as inferred from the views of
both insiders and outsiders. This fascinating social institution provided a thought-provoking
context resulting in a rich seam of data from participants who proved to be perceptive,
sensitive and culturally-aware.
The findings shed new light on the existing literature enabling a view of culture as a sensemaking
context that facilitates group socialization underpinning a sense of personal and
organizational identity. The relative inaccessibility of the culture concept in this study
implies a view of culture as no more than a rhetorical device - a metaphor for the taken-forgranted
social processes of organizing which enables us to ascribe our own set of values to
observed behaviour and questions attempts to objectify culture in any meaningful way.
Culture seen within this study as a web, an iceberg, as cognitive maps or shared symbols all
point towards this inaccessibility. The study suggests a link between culture and group
identification making discussions about culture almost inseparable from those around
identity. With regard to identity and image however, the study suggests a dynamic and
iterative relationship with a continuous flow between interpretation and reinterpretation
influenced by the all-pervading cultural context.

Citation

Baron, A. Culture, identity and image in an English hospice : an ethnographic study. (Thesis). Salford : University of Salford

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Oct 3, 2012
• Award Date: Jan 1, 2011