The thesis views the development of District Nursing as a sub-profession or specialty within the nursing profession together with the emergence and evolution of a team approach to community care during the middle sixty years of the twentieth century (1919-1979). This takes in the period immediately following the Nurses' Registration Act (1919), through the inter-wa,r period and Second World War, the introduction of the National Health Service, up to the reorganisation of Community Healthcare culminating with the Nurses, Midwives and Health Visitors Act of 1979. By the end-point of the thesis the district nurse can be seen to have become an established member of the primary health care team within the community. Contextualising this period of change within the development of a community health team enabled the thesis to consider the relative importance of intra- and inter- professional tensions to the development of a sub-profession - in this case, district nursing. The study has included under this remit the extended professional roles, social and political professional issues and changing power bases, and the conflict between desire for recognised autonomy and for membership of a health care team. In addition, it has been possible to address issues of gender central to a profession largely composed of women throughout the period working alongside a medical profession largely composed of men. The subject has lent itself to a consideration of the degree of influence of medically-related technologies and of developments in communications and transport on the changing role, image and work-experience of the district nurse. The geographical focus of the research has broadly encompassed England and Wales, within which three contrasting regions have been selected for more detailed study of their comparability. These were felt to provide a varied and demographically representative cross­ section of environments in England and Wales. Perhaps the most challenging, but also most innovative aspect of the thesis is the grass-roots view given of the district nurse obtained through employing the viewpoints of individual nurses based on oral history supplemented with personal communications and written, autobiographical accounts. A case study of one district nursing association in Lancashire has supplemented this 'bottom-up' view of the nurse's experience and changing role. And a study of imagery relating to district nursing, incorporating various forms of media and professional representations, examines changing cultural images and social stereotypes of district nurses. Underlying changes that were taking place in district nursing at micro and macro levels are here quantitatively illustrated, such as the shifting pattern of district nursing associations throughout the regions of England and Wales in the inter-war period, the changing numbers of district nurses of various grades employed, and their varying workloads. The thesis concludes with a brief forward look to consider how the changes that were to follow the 1979 reorganisation were to affect district nurses' professional relationships, roles and images in the decade to follow.

In the United Kingdom there is an unregulated martial arts 'industry'. The aim of this study was to examine whether this 'industry' required professionalisation through the rationalisation of qualifications for teaching, instructing or coaching practice. Currently, the martial arts consist of a very disparate set of organisations which have what, at best, could be called a varied range of professional standards across teaching, instructing and coaching. Professionalism struggles with the lassaiz-faire approach to qualifications and this creates differing expectations of the teachers, coaches and instructors within the organisations Viewpoints differ as to whether the individuals need more standards and qualifications. The study of a sample of expert views found that there is some recognition within the martial arts 'industry' that there needs a change in approach to tighten up the processes of determining who can and cannot coach, instruct or teach martial arts. Points of views expressed by the interviewees were: that standards and qualification should be demanding; that there is a need for a professional body and rationalised approach to qualifications but such general improvements must reflect the specific requirements of each particular art. Overall there was little optimism that professionalisation could be achieved. However, the desire for professionalisation was a significant finding. Recognising this, the recommendations from this study are set out in a 'Manifesto for Change' which aims to transform the current situation described by one expert as being one where 'the organisations are out for themselves and keep people separate from each other.' The essence of the manifesto concerns: the standardisation of teaching, coaching and instructing qualifications; the development of an overarching organisation to control the martial arts; recognition by other bodies outside of the martial arts of these standards.

In recent decades, social movements in general and Social Movement Organisations (SMOs) in particular have been going through processes of professionalisation, adopting market goals and methods, and employing on a large scale. Whilst most literature focuses on the impact of such processes for SMO activism, this research focuses on the impact of such moves for SMO staff. This thesis looks at employment and professionalisation in Israeli peace and anti-occupation SMOs, using Social Movement Theory, labour market literature, and a Weberian approach to conceptualise professionalisation, working conditions, and careers in SMOs. The mixed-methods data collection process included a phone survey of 200 workers in 32 SMOs, administrative data collected from the Israeli Bureau of Associations, 5 in-depth interviews and 2 workshops. The quantitative analysis mainly includes a comparison of SMO workers and representative data on the Israeli population and labour market (using the surveys ISSP 2005, ESS 2010, and the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics’ Social Survey 2011), and multilevel analysis using variables at both the organisational and the individual levels. The interviews and workshops used participants as partners, ensuring that the analysis is valid, meaningful, and relevant. Findings reveal that the researched SMO workers are highly educated, with an overrepresentation of women and Palestinians. They have a higher proportion of part-time positions, shorter tenure, and lower pay considering their educational levels, compared to the general Israeli labour market. While inequalities between Jews and Palestinians are not maintained in SMOs, inequalities between men and women are. Whilst working conditions are not ideal, SMO workers are motivated more by helping others and by professional interest, and less by practical considerations – although these do have a place in their decisions. They tend to stay within the Social Movement Sector, and develop an activism career – in which the organisational style and goals of SMOs compared to those of other sectors make it hard for them to leave the Social Movement Sector. The conceptualisation of professionalisation as bureaucratisation presented in Social Movement Theory matches actual data, and a professionalisation scale was created. Professionalisation may have negative effects on salary and tenure, and no positive effects were seen. These findings are true for SMOs that already employ workers, and they are interesting given that one consequence of professionalisation is creating more SMO employment. Different activity areas seem to offer different working conditions. This dissertation offers a contribution to SMOs and their workers, by highlighting inequalities and problematic issues regarding working conditions. It also enhances our theoretical understanding of SMO workers’ careers and careers in general, as well as of the possible consequences of professionalisation processes.

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This study intends to scrutinize how adjustments made in the housing market has affected the profession of estate agents. Our premise is based on that social facts can be interpreted by social facts and the aim is to understand the factors affecting the profession in today's society that are developed in interaction with societal factors. In order to fathom this phenomenon, we have chosen to study the profession of estate agents and how it has been affected by the housing market. The empirical material is based on real estate agents’ experience and is therefore collected through a qualitative method based on interviews. The study is interpreted by a professional theoretical perspective, where we have assumed the thesis that all professions can be professionalised. The theoretical conceptual apparatus consists of autonomy, social closure, legitimacy, authority and will be used to understand the professionalisation process, that is when and why professions arise. Despite the fact of the profession’s changes, it has not been enough for the profession to be professionalised in the classical term. It can be said that the housing market has affected the professionalisation process of profession of real estate brokerage, which means that social factors can influence the professionalisation process. What prevents the profession from change and development of their professional position is the lack of autonomy. Due to the runaway housing market, a regulator was established to combat irregular transactions, which lead to decreased autonomy. A stronger professional status would derive from an increased authonomy and the conclusion is therefore that as long as the profession is under external control, it will not be professionalised.

This thesis examines the impact of government action on the professional organisation of New Zealand counselling. In the late 1980s the government opened up opportunities for counsellors to gain funding for a new client group: people who had experienced sexual abuse. This opportunity to expand the coverage of clients for some counsellors encouraged counsellors to use the rhetoric of professionalisation as a strategy to improve their status and credibility in the eyes of the public and government. The same rhetoric provided justification for government to endorse the counsellors' professionalisation project. The thesis provides an account of the ways in which both government and diverse groups of counsellors used the rhetoric of professionalisation as a strategy to enforce and negotiate claims over occupational jurisdiction. Despite well documented sociological criticisms of linear or trait theories of professionalisation, their face validity is still widely accepted within professions. The thesis demonstrates how counsellors used a version of trait theories to guide their policies and actions. It shows how they combined this strategy with the active involvement of government in their professionalisation project. The combined strategy involved simultaneous competition and co-operation between and among counsellors and government personnel. The thesis suggests that counselling's professionalisation project in New Zealand would be better understood as a complex set of shifting arrangements between government and aspirant diverse professional groups. My work is based on the analysis of documents from, and interviews with personnel in, the New Zealand Association of Counsellors, university-based counsellor education programmes and the government agency that provides funding for specific types of counselling (the Accident Rehabilitation and Compensation Insurance Company).

No description available.

This study aimed at describing how the nursing profession in Malta changed between 1964 and 1996 emerging as a profession a result of circumstances and changes within and without. Change appears to have been imposed from outside the profession but Maltese nurses did not react to changes whether it was to their benefit or not. Meanwhile, the cumulative effect of various factors such as demographical changes, educational status and political decisions initiated the process of professionalisation of nursing in Malta. Source materials included archival sources and oral history interviews with twenty four interviewees consisting of nurses and other persons who were influential during the time, including politicians. These were analysed in order to produce a narrative of professionalisation of nursing in Malta. This is the first indepth study on the subject. The chosen period under study begins in 1964, the year Malta gained independence and ends in 1996, the year when the post of Nursing Director was established, thus allowing nurses a relative autonomy. Nurses were initially led by the Sisters of Charity who supervised them. Changes in the demographics of nursing, the type of preparation needed for it and the management system together with political decisions that often followed similar ones taken abroad, affected Maltese nurses. The official opening of the St Luke's School for Nurses and the introduction of nurse education at tertiary level were significant markers in the process of professionalisation. The thesis presents an insight into how Maltese nurses did not show much eagerness to reach professionalisation but were still propelled towards it by changes occurring extrinsically and then intrinsically. This is perhaps unique since nurses in other countries had nurse leaders who actively worked to reach professionalisation.

Yes / We explore the process of professionalization pre- and post-buyout (MBO) or buyin (MBI) of former private family firms using longitudinal evidence from six UK family firms undergoing an MBO/I in 1998. Professionalization behaviour was monitored up to 2014. Previous studies have conceptualized professionalization as a threshold to be attained. We demonstrate that professionalization is a complex process occurring in waves, triggered by changes in firm ownership and management. Waves of professionalization converge during the MBO/I process. Buyouts provide a funnelling mechanism enabling diverse control systems to be standardized. Post-MBO/I, divergence in the professionalization process reoccurs contingent on firm-specific contexts. Professionalization focuses on operations when stewardship relationships predominate, but on agency control mechanisms when there is increased potential for agency costs. Buyout organizational form is an important transitory phase facilitating the professionalization process. Professionalization is not a once-for-all development stage.

The Bachelor thesis ”Oh, it’s only student radio” is a qualitative study of the Swedish student radio and its members. The study aims to investigate the professionalisation of the radio hosts through Pierre Bourdieu’s theories of field and habitus as well as theories of profession. In order to do so, it’s also necessary to establish the radiostations’ perceived role in today’s media landscape by analysing their ambition in relation to other media organisations. The latter has been determined in part by the same theories as the former, in part also by theories of media convergence and a comparison to its international counterpart Community Radio. The investigation has been conducted through semi-structured research interviews with active members. The material has furthermore been operationalised through a theme-based qualitative data analysis, to compare and contrast the participants views and perceptions from the standpoints of the theoretical framework and earlier research. The thesis concludes that the journalism students have higher ambition and are likely to use the student radio as a stepping stone for their future career. They are also more likely to take on several different projects, whereas the other members tended to stay within the same genre of radio show. All the participants said to achieve a personal growth through their memberships, whether as mastering the tool of a future career or more of a personal gain through a hobby. It was also established that members of the older and larger radio stations where more likely to aspire as competators of Sveriges Radio (Swedish Public Service Broadcaster) whereas hosts from the younger stations where more likely to compare themselves to those within the podcasting community, due to the esteem of the stations leading figures.