The professional identity of occupational therapists : an empirical study.

There has been an understanding that occupational therapists suffer from a weak
professional identity. This qualitative study examined the ways in which the
professional identity of occupational therapists was perceived from the stance of
practitioners, educators, and those working for the College of Occupational
Therapists (COT) and the Council for Professions Supplementary to Medicine
(CPSM).
There are many ways of defining 'profession'. In this case the perspective of
symbolic interaction was taken and Becker's (1977), explanation of it as a
symbolised concept was used. This framework was used to generate an interview
schedule for 50 in-depth interviews, which facilitated an exploration of the
actions that were undertaken to expand professional status, how individuals and
collectives had interpreted those actions and the ways in which meaning was
attributed to professionalism.
The research findings showed notable differences in interpretation between
practitioners and organising bodies. Practitioners were confident that
occupational therapy could claim a discrete body of knowledge but collective
actions to align the skill to science had undermined its value. Changes in
education, whilst beneficial to status, have weakened the capacity of the
profession to control how it is managed. Government measures to monitor the
competence of all health professionals have placed a greater imperative on
occupational therapists' self-regulatory mechanisms to be visibly effective. A
code of ethics is important for professional cohesion and has more potency than
previously thought but events have made it difficult for occupational therapists to
live a service ideal.
In essence the profession was not acting as a cohesive unit. There needs to be a
stronger identification with a unique skill with more professional control over
what form the work should take. There should be effective gate-keeping guarding
against inappropriate admissions to the profession, effective monitoring of
competence and discipline and a strong code of ethics. Socialisation has the
potential to enhance individual professionalism and strengthen collective
professional identity. Exploring these issues requires co-ordination, a purpose for
which professional bodies, in this case COT, were established.