Introduction

In the preceding chapter, professions were characterized as occupational groups that enjoy largely unchallenged authority in connection with the technical aspects of the services they deliver. Rather than responding to the preferences of consumers or the directives of external agencies, the nature of professional services is determined in substance by professionals themselves. This is not to imply that professional work necessarily proceeds in an undisciplined manner according to the whims of individual practitioners. On the contrary, a cognitive oversight is presumed to operate, with the bounds of acceptable technical practice defined by the knowledge base of the profession. It is on this ground that responsibility for ensuring the serviceability and quality of professional services is turned over to the providers of those services. The authority vested with professionals thereby constitutes a particular means by which human interactions are sought to be mediated and social order enhanced.