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"Must be judged as a landmark in medical sociology."—Norman Denzin, Journal of Health and Social Behavior "Profession of Medicine is a challenging monograph; the ideas presented are stimulating and thought provoking. . . . Given the expanding domain of what illness is and the contentions of physicians about their rights as professionals, Freidson wonders aloud whether expertise is becoming a mask for privilege and power. . . . Profession of Medicine is a landmark in the sociological analysis of the professions in modern society."—Ron Miller, Sociological Quarterly "This is the first book that I know of to go to the root of the matter by laying open to view the fundamental nature of the professional claim, and the structure of professional institutions."—Everett C. Hughes, Science
Freidson guides his analysis by finding what power may be ascribed to formal, codified knowledge. He focuses on the institutions that provide intellectual workers with their knowledge, a regular living, organized political resources, and other means with which to translate formal knowledge into human activity. Surveying professionals, he establishes a basic foundation for tracing the sources and means of professional power. Key issues are discussed as to whether they exercise power in the workplace, in government policy-making, and in the shaping of our physical and social world.
Eliot Freidson has written the first systematic account of professionalism as a method of organizing work. In ideal-typical professionalism, specialized workers control their own work, while in the free market consumers are in command, and in bureaucracy managers dominate. Freidson shows how each method has its own logic requiring different kinds of knowledge, organization, career, education and ideology. He also discusses how historic and national variations in state policy, professional organization, and forms of practice influence the strength of professionalism. In appraising the embattled position of professions today, Freidson concludes that ideologically inspired attacks pose less danger to professionals' institutional privileges than to their ethical independence to resist use of their specialized knowledge to maximize profit and efficiency without also providing its benefits to all in need. This timely and original analysis will be of great interest to those in sociology, political science, history, business studies and the various professions.
"Must be judged as a landmark in medical sociology."-Norman Denzin, Journal of Health and Social Behavior"Profession of Medicine is a challenging monograph; the ideas presented are stimulating and thought provoking. . . . Given the expanding domain of what illness is and the contentions of physicians about their rights as professionals, Freidson wonders aloud whether expertise is becoming a mask for privilege and power. . . . Profession of Medicine is a landmark in the sociological analysis of the professions in modern society."-Ron Miller, Sociological Quarterly"This is the first book that I know of to go to the root of the matter by laying open to view the fundamental nature of the professional claim, and the structure of professional institutions."-Everett C. Hughes, Science
This book is an original interpretation of the professions and the role of the professional in Western industrial societies today.
This illuminating study explores the role of professionals, patients, regulation and law in improving patient safety.
Over the past 30 years Robert Dingwall has published an influential series of articles on the professions, especially law and medicine. This represents a substantial and coherent body of work in an important sub-discipline of sociology. This volume assembles the best of these writings in one single accessible place. The ten essays are republished in their original form, each bearing the traces of the time and place it was written. In sum, they provide a fascinating account of an academic journey. They are introduced with a foreword from the author, who places the work in context and offers some thoughts about how the work might be used by scholars in developing the field, to evaluate, for example, the effects of the New Labour period on professional autonomy. The essays will be indispensable to sociologists with a general interest in the professions and to scholars of law, medicine and business.
The Handbook of the Sociology of Health, Illness & Healing advances the understanding of medical sociology by identifying the most important contemporary challenges to the field and suggesting directions for future inquiry. The editors provide a blueprint for guiding research and teaching agendas for the first quarter of the 21st century. In a series of essays, this volume offers a systematic view of the critical questions that face our understanding of the role of social forces in health, illness and healing. It also provides an overall theoretical framework and asks medical sociologists to consider the implications of taking on new directions and approaches. Such issues may include the importance of multiple levels of influences, the utility of dynamic, life course approaches, the role of culture, the impact of social networks, the importance of fundamental causes approaches, and the influences of state structures and policy making.
Care for the elderly, disabled and mentally-ill within and by the community forms a vital part of current social policy. Martin Bulmer argues that this policy is inadequately thought out and rests on a series of poorly founded sociological assumptions. As a result there is a vacuum at the heart of government’s social care policy which is likely to lead to ineffective or deteriorating provision for those in need. This book, first published in 1987, will be essential reading for all those concerned with the organization and delivery of social care, whether as students, practitioners or teachers. It will be particularly useful for courses dealing with social policy, the personal social services and the social context of social work.