ABSTRACT
The study of power and professional practices within health care has been of longstanding interest to medical sociologists (Parsons 1954; Freidson 1970; Witz 1992; Elston 2009). Such analyses have revealed that the medical division of labour and associated organisational hierarchies cannot be solely explained in terms of the technical knowledge and capacities of the practitioners. Rather, the distribution of power in the health care arena has been shaped by a complex intersection of historical, social, cultural and economic factors, central to which are gender relations. This intersection has been understood by sociologists in terms of ‘professional projects’, whereby health care occupations have sought to secure a distinctive market position for themselves (Abbott 1988). Such studies reveal a historical interplay between ‘professionalism’ and ‘professionalisation’. Professionalism refers to a distinctive ethic of conduct: an altruistic disposition combined with claims to expertise. Professionalisation, on the other hand, is characterised by the attainment of extensive occupational autonomy, grounded in a state-endorsed monopoly of practice. This chapter draws on insights from the sociology of the medical professions, and on a recent empirical study (Cant et al. 2011), to explore and explain efforts by nurses and midwives to integrate complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) into hospital practice within the United Kingdom.
