ABSTRACT
The nature and extent of the power of professionals in social welfare varies from profession to profession, from service to service, from situation to situation. What is clear, however, is that in many areas professionals have wide-ranging powers. The discussion in this chapter examines the nature and extent of professional power under five different headings: power in policy making and administration; power to define needs and problems; power in resource allocation; power over people; and power to control the area of work.
