These two articles attempt to clarify the problem of role anxiety through a review of some of the literature on the processes of professionalisation and a description of a qualitative study examining the relationships between occupational therapists and their helpers. The first article describes the nature and processes of professionalisation according to various sociological models. The problem of defining the knowledge base of people in ‘caring’ professions is identified and it is suggested that this needs to be related to a dynamic view of social structures.
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