This paper examines a group of lay homoeopaths, represented by the Society of Homoeopathy, and traces the changes that have been made to their organisation, training and knowledge as they attempt to enhance their legitimacy in the eyes of the public, government and orthodox medical profession. The group has acquired a number of `professional' properties, but in so doing have reduced levels of freedom, marginalised factions within the group and failed to gain greater authority in the healthcare market. The homoeopaths themselves thus recognise that there are costs as well as benefits associated with their professional project and so they have undertaken many of the changes reluctantly.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Abbott, A. (1988) The System of Professions, Chicago: Chicago University Press.
2.
Amark, K. (1990) `Open Cartels and Social Closures: Professional Strategies in sweden, 1860-1950' in M. Burrage and R. Torstendahl, Professions in Theory and History, London: Sage.
3.
Anderson, E. & Anderson, P. (1987) `General Practitioners and Alternative Medicine', Journal of the Royal College of Practitioners, 37, 52-55.
4.
Association of Community Health Councils (1988) The State of Non-Conventional Medicine - The Consumer View.
5.
Baer, H. (1984) `The Drive for Professionalisation in British Osteopathy', Social Science and Medicine, 19, 7, 717-725.
6.
Becker, H. (1970) `The Nature of a Profession' in H. Becker, Sociological Work, Chicago: Aldine.
7.
BMA (1986) Alternative Therapy. Report of the Board of Science and Education, London: BMA.
8.
BMA (1993) Complementary Medicine. New Approaches to Good Practice, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
9.
Burrage, M. (1990) `Introduction: The professions in sociology and history' in M. Burrage and R. Torstendahl, Professions in Theory and History, London: Sage.
10.
Calnan, M., Cant, S. and Gabe, J. (1993) Going Private. Why People Pay for Their Health Care, Milton Keynes: Open University Press.
11.
Coward, R. (1989) The Whole Truth: The Myth of Alternative Medicine, London: Faber and Faber.
12.
Crompton, R (1990) `Professions in the Current Context', Work, Employment and Society, Special Issue, May.
13.
Department of Health (1991) `Stephen Dorrell Clarifies the Position on Alternative and Complementary Medicine', Press Release, December.
14.
Dingwall, R. (1983) `Introduction' in R. Dingwall and P. Lewis, The Sociology of the Professions, London: Macmillan.
15.
Donnison, K. (1977) Midwives and Medical Men, London: Heinemann.
16.
Fairfoot, P. (1987) `Alternative Therapies. The BMA Knows Best', Journal of Social Policy, 16, 383-390.
17.
Flynn, R. (1992) Structures of Control in Health Management, Sevenoaks: Coronet Books.
18.
Freidson, E. (1970) Profession of Medicine, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
19.
Freidson, E. (1986) Professional Powers: A Study of the Institutionalisation of Formal Knowledge, Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press.
20.
Fulder, S. (1988) The Handbook of Complementary Medicine, Sevenoaks: Coronet Books.
21.
Greenwood, E. (1957) `Attributes of a Profession', Social Work, 2, 44-55.
22.
Hahnemann, S. (1986) Organisation of Medicine, New Delhi: B. Jain.
23.
Higgins, J. (1988) The Business of Medicine, London: Macmillan.
24.
HMSO (1993) The Osteopaths Act, London: HMSO.
25.
HMSO (1994) The Chiropractic Act, London: HMSO.
26.
Johnson, T. (1972) Professions and Power, London: Macmillan.
27.
Larkin, G. (1983) Occupational Monopoly and Modern Medicine, London: Tavistock.
28.
Larson, M.S. (1977) The Rise of Professionalism: A Sociological Analysis, Los Angeles: California University Press.
29.
MacDonald, K. (1985) `Social Closure and Occupational Registration', Sociology, 19, 4, 541-556.
30.
MacEion, D. (1994) `The Choice of Homoeopathic Models: The Patients' Dilemma', The Homoeopath, 51, 108-114.
31.
MORI (1989) Research on Alternative Medicine, MORI.
32.
Nicholls, P. (1988) Homoeopathy and the Medical Profession, London: Croom Helm.
33.
Parkin, F. (1974) The Social Analysis of Class Structure, London: Tavistock.
34.
Parry, N. and Parry, J. (1976) The Rise of the Medical Profession, London: Croom Helm.
35.
Parsons, T. (1939) `Professions and the Social Structure', Social Forces, 17, 457-467.
36.
Parssinen, T. (1979) `Professional Deviants and the History of Medicine: Medical Mesmerists in Victorian Britain' in R. Wallis (ed.), Sociological Review Monograph27, 103-121.
37.
Rothstein, W. (1972) American Physicians in the Nineteenth Century, Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press.
38.
Sharma, U. (1992) Complementary Medicine Today. Practitioners and Patients, London: Routledge.
39.
Taylor, C.R. (1984) `Alternative Medicine and the Medical Encounter in Britain and the UK' in J. Salmon, Alternative Medicines. Popular and Policy Perspectives, London: Tavistock.
40.
Torstendahl, R. (1990) `Essential Properties, Strategic Aims and Historical Development: Three Approaches to Theories of Professionalism' in M. Burrage and R. Torstendahl, Professions in Theory and History, London: Sage.
41.
Waddington, I. (1984) The Medical Profession in the Industrial Revolution, Dublin: Gill and Macmillan Humanities Press.
42.
Weber, M. (1968) Economy and Society, G. Roth and C. Wittich (eds.), New York: Bedminster Press.
43.
Wharton, R. and Lewith, G. (1986) `Complementary Medicine and the General Practitioner'British Medical Journal, 292, 1498-1500.
44.
Wilensky, H. (1964) `The Professionalisation of Everyone', American Journal of Sociology, 70, 137-148.
45.
Willis, E. (1992) Medical Dominance, Sydney: Allen and Unwin.
46.
Witz, A. (1992) Professions and Patriarchy, London: Routledge.
