Social Psychology Network

Maintained by Scott Plous, Wesleyan University

Linda E. Francis

Linda E. Francis

My primary research interest is in communication processes between patients, families and providers in medical and mental health settings. I am particularly interested in the emotional content of these interactions, especially the means by which actors manage their own and others' emotions. Much of my older work has addressed ideologies of practice, through which practitioners construct, communicate, and enforce definitions of physical, mental, and/or emotional health and illness. More recently, I have begun research on caregivers for advanced cancer patients, focusing on stress, grief, and the reconstruction of self.

Primary Interests:

  • Applied Social Psychology
  • Communication, Language
  • Culture and Ethnicity
  • Emotion, Mood, Affect
  • Health Psychology
  • Intergroup Relations
  • Interpersonal Processes
  • Prejudice and Stereotyping
  • Research Methods, Assessment
  • Self and Identity
  • Sociology, Social Networks

Journal Articles:

  • Francis, L.E., C.S. Berger, C. Steinman, M. Giardini and K. Kim. Forthcoming, 2009. "Pregnant and Poor in the Suburb." Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare.
  • Francis, L. E. (2000). Conflicting bureaucracies, conflicted work: Dilemmas in case management for homeless people with severe mental illness. Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, 27(2), 97-112.
  • Francis, L. E. (1997). Ideology and emotion management: Redefining identity in two support groups. Social Psychology Quarterly, 60(2), 153-171.
  • Francis, L. E. (1994)."Laughter, the best mediation: Humor as emotion management in interaction. Symbolic Interaction, 17(2), 147-163.
  • Francis, L.E., Colson, P.W., & Mizzi, P. (2002). Beneficence vs. obligation: Challenges for consumer employment in mental health services organizations. Community Mental Health Journal.
  • Francis, L.E., Monahan, K., & Berger, C.S. (1999). A laughing matter? Uses of humor in medical interactions. Motivation and Emotion, 23(2).
  • Francis, Linda E., Candyce S. Berger, Marianne Giardini, Carolyn Steinman and Karina Kim. (2009). Pregnant and Poor in the Suburb: The Experiences of Economically Disadvantaged Women of Color with Prenatal Services in a Wealthy Suburban County. Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, XXXVI(2): 133-157.
  • Francis, Linda E, Julie L. Worthington, George Kypriotakis and Julia Rose. (2010). “Relationship and Burden among Underserved Caregivers of Late-Stage Cancer Patients.” Supportive Care in Cancer, DOI 10.1007/s00520-009-0765-5.
  • Smith, H. and L.E. Francis. 2005. “Social versus Self-Directed Events among Japanese and Americans.” Social Forces, 84(2): 819-828.
  • Colson, Paul and Francis, Linda. 2009. "Consumer Staff and the Role of Personal Experience in Mental Health Services," in the Journal of Social Work and Health Care.
  • Francis, L.E., J. Worthington, G. Krypriotakis and J.H. Rose. 2010. "Relationship Quality and Burden among Caregivers of Late-Stage Cancer Patients." Journal of Supportive Care in Cancer. DOI: 10.1007/s00520-009-0765-5.
  • Francis, Linda E., Karen F. Bowman, George Kypriotakis and Julia Hannum Rose. (In press) “Relationships and Emotional Wellbeing among African American and White Advanced Cancer Caregivers.” Patient Education and Counseling.

Other Publications:

  • Francis, L. E. (1998). Emotion, coping, and therapeutic ideologies. In D. Franks, R. Erikson, & B. Cuthbertson-Johnson (Eds.), The Sociology of Emotions: Real Life Applications (pp. 71-101). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
  • Francis, L.E. 2003. “Feeling Good, Feeling Well: Identity, Emotion, and Health.” (Pp. 123-134 in Advances in Identity Theory, Peter Burke, Timothy Owens, Richard Serpe and Peggy Thoits, Eds. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers.
  • Francis, Linda E. 2008. "Anger and Anguish in Maternity Care." Chapter in Robinson and Clay-Warner, Eds., Social Structure and Emotion. New York: Elsevier.
  • Francis, L.E.2006. “Health and Emotion.” Chapter 23 in the Handbook of the Sociology of Emotions, J. Stets and J. Turner (eds.), of the Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research, Howard Kaplan, Series Editor. New York: Springer Press

Courses Taught:

  • Deviance in the United States
  • Growing Old in America
  • Health and the Social Body
  • Human Behavior and the Social Environment
  • Program Evaluation
  • Public Health and Epidemiology
  • Qualitative Research Methods
  • Race, Class and Gender
  • Research Methods and Statistics
  • Social Work and Health Care
  • Sociology of Mental Illness

Linda E. Francis
Department of Sociology and Criminology
Rhodes Tower 1736
2121 Euclid Avenue
Cleveland, Ohio 44115
United States of America

  • Work: (216) 687-4510
  • Home: (330) 676-1170

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