ABSTRACT
In short, the sociology of professions has largely been focused upon the mechanics of cohesiveness and upon detailing the social structure of given professions. Medicine is usually considered the prototype of the professions, the one upon which current sociological conceptions of professions tend to be based. Further, professions involve a number of social movements in various kinds of relationship to each other. As a beginning, the movement of segments can fruitfully be analyzed as analogous to social movements. In any case, the existence of segments, and the emergence of new segments, takes on new significance when viewed from the perspective of social movements within a profession. Functionalism sees a profession largely as a relatively homogeneous community whose members share identity, values, definitions of role, and interests. Some readers undoubtedly will prefer to consider the process model as supplementary.
