Community Within a Community: The Professions

While boundaries are soc rather than geographic, & continuity based on selection & training rather than blood linkages, a profession may be called a community by virtue of: (1) sense of identity, (2) continuing status upon entry, (3) common values, (4) definition of roles vis-a-vis both members & non-members, (5) special language, (6) power over members, (7) reasonably clear limits, & (8) its socialization process. Industrialized society is dependent upon professional skills. Aspiring occup'al groups speak & write of service to the community, thereby justifying goals & policies. Response becomes an index of power & a means of furtherance. By controlling admission to training & exacting higher standards than law requires, professions reap more prestige, higher income, & disproportionate representation, shaping its own legislation. Advantages & power rest on the values of the larger society, which deems the educ crucial, Since clients usually bring problems they cannot solve to professionals who can, there are peculiar exploitative opportunities. Highest rewards are likely to be granted to those who actually live up to their obligations. With discretion & power, members face real temptations. Socialization & control are thus made important. Some professions isolate their recruits for several yrs, furnishing new ego ideals, references, impressing dependence, punishing inappropriate att's & behavior, & instilling values. The latter do not differ drastically from those of the larger society, each provision being justified by invoking ethical notions acceptable to the whole. `Working codes' define relations with 4 categories of persons at points of potential strain. Professionals must: (1) control their clients, (2) not refer to unauthorized practitioners, (3) pressure laymen to enforce legislation against the authorized practitioners, & (4) control colleagues in these matters. In turn (1) society has some control through the state, (2) clients may choose or reject professionals, (3) colleagues control prestige, advancement & legal agencies (licensing boards), & (4) unauthorized practitioners offer services to those not satisfied. Internal control is required because judgments do not coincide with those of clients. Members submit, for protection, as against charges deemed inappropriate or irrelevant. For instance, a statistical view is taken of errors of judgment. Insiders generally fare better than outsiders, despite erroneous conclusions which clients may reac