Profession: A Useful Concept for Sociological Analysis?

Abstract

Il a toujours été problématique de conceptualiser les professions puisque les caractéristiques professionnelles varient beaucoup dans le temps et dans l'espace. Cet article analyse les façons selon lesquelles les professions et les occupations ont été délimitées historiquement dans la législation. Un regard sur la réglementation professionnelle de cinq provinces canadiennes antérieure à 1961 dénombre environ 36 groupes professionnels distincts. L'auteure croit qu'une meilleure compréhension s'appuyant sur la recherche empirique de ce qu'étaient les professions par le passé aidera à conceptualiser et à faire avancer la recherche actuelle sur les professions. Particulièrement importantes sont les considérations sur la qualité de même que sur la structure des relations d'emploi avec les autres groupes professionnels, le public et l'É tat.Conceptualizing professions has traditionally been problematic because professional characteristics vary across time and place. This paper explores the ways in which professions and occupations were historically demarcated through legislation. A look at professional regulation in five Canadian provinces before 1961 reveals approximately 36 distinct professional groups. I argue that developing a more accurate, empirically based understanding of what professions were in the past will help us conceptualize and advance research on professions in the present. Particularly salient are considerations of status, as well as the structuring of occupations' relations with other occupational groups, the public, and the state.

Exploring the Complexities of Army Civilians and the Army Profession

“…82 The word profession derives from the Latin word profiteor, the declaring in public of an individuals' formal commitment to serve in some manner towards social usefulness, suggesting a particular knowledge and code of values. 83 Beyond the existence of a social utility, professions and professionalism presume a social necessity for the greater society considered as a "professional mandate."…”

Interrogating professional power and recognition of specialized knowledge: a class analysis

“…Most of the research has distinguished professionals by relying on three conventional criteria: organized educational programs for advanced academic education; legitimate group associations; and self-regulatory licensing bodies (see Adams, 2010). A review of the literature review reveals few comparative empirical studies of professionals' working conditions and job control.…”

The Personal Support Worker Program Standard in Ontario: An Alternative to Self-Regulation?

“…Ontario is not yet in a stage of title regulation as defined by Adams (2010) for PsWs. It is not mandatory for PsWs to apply to the registry, nor to have a PsW certificate if they do register, nor for employers to hire registered PsWs, and most significantly, there is no practitioner board overseeing the registry.…”

“…Adams' (2010) work highlights that there are many ways to regulate professions and that there is an inherent hierarchy from self-to title to occupational regulation. In the case of health professions, occupational regulation is rarely used in contrast to self-and title regulation.…”

“…A Brief Background on Forms of Regulation Adams (2010) identifies three types of professional regulation in Canada: self-regulation with autonomous regulatory boards of practitioners utilized by groups such as doctors and lawyers; title regulation in which a regulatory body of practitioners requires workers to register and provide proof of training to claim a restricted title, but with limited authority in the field; and occupational regulation where governments create a board to monitor field membership, most commonly used for skilled trades. Adams' (2010) work highlights that there are many ways to regulate professions and that there is an inherent hierarchy from self-to title to occupational regulation.…”