Profession of Medicine: A Study of the Sociology of Applied Knowledge

by Eliot Freidson

Overview

"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

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780226262284
Publisher:	University of Chicago Press
Publication date:	05/15/1988
Edition description:	1
Pages:	440
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Eliot Freidson is a professor emeritus of sociology at New York University and visiting professor of sociology at the University of California, San Francisco. He is the author of several books, including Professional Powers: A Study of the Institutionalization of Formal Knowledge and Professionalism Reborn: Theory, Prophecy, and Policy.

Table of Contents

Editor's Introduction
Preface
Introduction
Part I. The Formal Organization of a Profession
1. The Emergence of Medicine as a Consulting Profession
2. Political Organization and Professional Autonomy
3. The Medical Division of Labor
4. The Form Characteristics of a Profession
Part II. The Organization of Professional Performance
5. Everyday Work Settings of the Professional
6. Patterns of Practice in the Hospital
7. The Test of Autonomy; Professional Self-Regulation
8. The Clinical Mentality
9. Profession as Organization—Formal and Informal
Part III. The Social Construction of Illness
10. Illness as Social Deviance
11. Sociological Types of Illness
12. The Professional Construction of Concepts of Illness
13. The Lay Construction of Illness
14. The Social Organization of Illness
Part IV. Consulting Professions in a Free Society
15. The Limits of Professional Knowledge
16. The Limits of Professional Autonomy
Afterword
Index of Names
Index of Subjects