Critique Of Andrew Abbott
Part A: Summary
Introduction:
Andrew Abbott’s book, The System of Professions: An Essay on the Division of Expert
Labour contains a mix of comparative historical analysis and current evaluation, which is
assembled within an analytical model that looks at professions from the viewpoint of their
jurisdictions, the tasks they do, the expert knowledge needed for those tasks, and how
competitive forces internally and externally work to change both the jurisdictions and the
tasks. Abbott attempts to show that professions are interdependent systems, containing
internal structures. He accomplishes this task by means of analyzing the emergence of
modern professions and their relationships with each other cooperatively and competitively.
Section I: Work, Jurisdiction, and Competition
Abbott‟s book takes on an individualistic direction in its inception then moves to a more
systematic view of professions.
Modern studies of formal professions began with the rise of the discipline of social sciences in
the 19th century. In the beginning, scholars debated about the theoretical interpretations of
professionalism. There was a split between proponents of functionalist and monopolistic
approaches. However, academics on both sides agreed, “that a profession was an occupational
group with some special skill” (Abbott 1988: 7).
Abbott mentions that there have been four different perspectives that have sought to interpret
professionalization, a functional, structural, monopolistic, and a cultural view. Abbott states
that the tasks of professions are to provide expert service to amend human problems (Abbott
1988: 33). These problems can be objective, in that they originate naturally or through
technological imperatives. Problems can also be subjective, whereby they are imposed by
society or a culture either from the present or past. Abbott argues that the “real difference
between the objective and subjective qualities of problems is a difference in amenability to
cultural work” (Abbott 1988: 36).
Abbott outlines that there are several types of objective foundations for professional tasks.
Some being technological, some organizational, other sources of objective qualities lay in
natural objects and facts, while others came from slow-changing cultural structures. Abbott
also argues that a “profession is always vulnerable to changes in the objective character of its
central tasks” (Abbott 1988: 39).
Besides the objective qualities, professional tasks also have subjective qualities, which make
them susceptible to change. Unlike objective tasks, change does not come from the vagaries
of external forces, but from the “activities of other professions impinge[ing] on the subjective
qualities (Abbott 1988: 39).
According to Abbott, three acts helped to embody the cultural logic of professional practice.
The three subjective modalities being diagnosis, inference, and treatment.
Diagnosis is the process wherein information is taken into the professional knowledge system,
and treatment is wherein instruction is brought back out from it (Abbott 1988: 40). During the
process of diagnosis, relevant information about the client is assembled into a picture of the
client‟s needs. This picture is then categorized into a proper diagnostic category. This process
consists of two sub-processes known as colligation and classification. “Colligation is the first
step in which the professional knowledge system begins to structure the observed problems
(Abbott 1988: 41). Colligation is the forming of a picture of the client, and consists primarily
of “rules declaring what kinds of evidence are relevant and irrelevant, valid and invalid, as
well as rules specifying the admissible level of ambiguity (Abbott 1988: 41). Classification is
the referral of “the colligated picture to the dictionary of professional legitimate problems”
(Abbott 1988: 41). Colligation and classification help to define which type of problems fall
under which body of profession, and specifically what kind of problem it is in that particular
profession. Abbott mentions that sometimes problems of classification arise. For some
problems are constantly shifting classifications, and fall under more than one classification,
due to their defining traits. This may lead to intervention or competition by other professions
who want to assimilate the unclear problem into their own professional repertoire (Abbott
1988: 44).
The procedure of “treatment is organized around a classification system and a brokering
process,” whereby results are given to the client and prescription is offered (Abbott 1988: 44).
One major problem associated with treatment is the client‟s willingness to accept treatment. A
profession that adamantly forces clients to take treatment risks losing clients to their
competition who may be more flexible to their client‟s wishes (Abbott 1988: 47).
Inference is the process that takes place “when the connection between diagnosis and
treatment is obscure” (Abbott 1988: 49). Inference can work in one of two ways, either by
exclusion or construction. With regards to the ideals of inference, is the fact that professions
that have several chances to infer solutions to a problem will consequently have more failures,
than a profession that gets only one chance.
In addition, professions with multiple chances are generally more vulnerable to intervention
and competition, or what is known as ceteris paribus, for treatment failure is the main
attacking point for invading professions (Abbott 1988: 49). Another factor that leaves
professions prone to external attack is the existence of a problem where no treatment can be
inferred.
To counteract this potential downfall, Abbott suggested that professions often direct these
unsolvable problems to elite consultants or are academicized as „crucial anomalies‟ (Abbott
1988: 50). These procedures help to make the difficult problem connected with a vague public
label, “which serves as a stopgap against dangerous questioning” (Abbott 1988: 51). This in
turn removes direct and stigmatizing responsibility of treatment failure away from a
profession, which “protects a profession‟s jurisdiction” (Abbott 1988: 51). “Diagnosis,
treatment, inference, and academic work provide the cultural machinery of jurisdiction”
(Abbott 1988: 59).
However, Abbott argues that this is not enough for an organized structure to claim
jurisdiction. In order to claim jurisdiction, a profession must ask “society to recognize its
cognitive structure through exclusive rights” (Abbott 1988: 59). Jurisdictional claim by a
profession can be achieved in several possible arenas, within the legal system, the realm of
public opinion, and within the arena of the workplace. Claiming jurisdiction is only one
means of overcoming jurisdictional disputes by professions, Abbott mentions that there are
five other known types of settlement options. A profession‟s social organization is comprised
of three distinct internal structures, they being groups, controls, and worksites. These modules
of professional organization work in unison to create a more bonded and organized
professional structure. Together they influence professions in several ways.
 First, the more organized a profession is, the more effective it is at claiming
jurisdiction.
 Second, organization of a profession into “a single, identifiable national association is
clearly a prerequisite of public or legal claims” (Abbott 1988: 83).
 Third, in some conditions oddly, some relatively less organized professions due to
their internal structures have a certain advantage in workplace competition. For these
professional organizations lack rigid focus, and thus have freedom to move back and
forth from different tasks, whereas more organized professions lack this flexibility to
venture into other areas of work to increase diversity, to become more competitive.
 Finally, professions that have highly organized internal structures are more resilient to
attacks by less organized professions.
These facts illustrate that the social structure of professions is neither fixed nor uniformly
beneficial; the nature of it is “constantly subdividing under the various pressures of market
demands, specialization, and interprofessional competition” (Abbott 1988: 84).
In addition, these facts demonstrate that different competitive conditions favour a more or less
organized profession. Taken together these factors imply that the professions as a group will
develop in the structured dynamic pattern that Abbott calls the system of professions. Abbott
upholds in his book the ideal that professions constitute an interdependent system, and that
jurisdiction is exclusive (Abbott 1988: 86). That being true, then a move by one inevitably
affects the others.
Change occurs within professions according to Abbott through two sources.
 One source is from external factors, these initiate the “opening or closing [of] areas for
jurisdiction and by existing or new professions seeking new ground” (Abbott 1988:
90). New tasks areas of jurisdiction are opened; some professions prosper by the
acquisition of these new jurisdictions by procedures such as enclosure at the expense
of destroying old jurisdictions, that lead to the weakening of the jurisdiction of other
professions (Abbott 1988: 91).
 A second source of change comes from internal factors, these causes unlike external
factors do not create or abolish jurisdiction. Change is initiated internally within the
dynamic structures of professions through the development of new knowledge, and
expansion of jurisdictional consolidation by processes such as professionalization or
reduction (Abbott 1988: 91).
Section II: The System's Environment
Abbott defines professional power “as the ability to retain jurisdiction when system forces
imply that a profession ought to have lost it” (Abbott 1988: 136). The power of professions to
expand their cognitive domain, and thus their jurisdiction, Abbott maintains is dependent on
their use of abstract knowledge to annex new areas of work, and to define then as their own
(Abbott 1988: 102). Abbott also adds that knowledge must not be too abstract or concrete to
be jurisdictionally advantageous for a profession.
Two mechanisms help professions to maintain an optimal level of abstraction, these being the
processes of amalgamation and division.
 Within professions there exists internal differentiation between the organized groups
of individuals that comprise the profession. One major source of internal stratification
comes from the phenomenon of professional regression. This is a process whereby
professionals withdraw into themselves, working in more purely professional
environments, as a consequence of gaining greater status (Abbott 1988: 118). They
inevitably become segregated from the tasks for which they claim jurisdiction, and
from clients, the public, and other subordinate professionals.
 Besides professional regression there is the concept of client differentiation, which
leads to specialization within professions, this creates internal divisions of labour.
o A process correlated to labour division is that of degradation. Degradation is
the progression whereby work is systematically segmented from professional
to non-professional status, which leads to the division of labour between “an
upper, truly professional group and a lower, subordinate one” (Abbott 1988:
128).
o An interrelated issue of labour division is that of career patterns, Abbott argues
that career patterns are often quite rigid, and that interchangeability between
work of different professions is impossible. For due to demographic rigidity,
some professions size and reproduction mechanisms prevent them from
expanding or contracting rapidly, thus constraining their professionals from
practicing outside of the profession (Abbott 1988: 129).
Abbott proposes that large scale general changes on the structures that make up the system of
professions, and not their effects on individual professions must be examined, to generate an
accurate picture of the variables that mediate change (Abbott 1988: 143). Abbott mentions
that two significant circumstances have helped in the advancement of professional
jurisdictions. One being the rise of the large-scale organization, and the other being the rise of
technology (Abbott 1988: 144). Beyond technology and organizations, social movements
have also been responsible for the creation and abolishment of professional work.
With the organizational revolution of the 19th century professions became more bureaucratic.
The rise of bureaucracies has increased competition between professions, by absorbing certain
forms of work, and thus creating struggle for work that remains (Abbott 1988: 157). As a
consequence, there has been a split between workplace and public jurisdiction, and
subsequently a division between administrative and legislative authority. This Abbott
contends leads to various changes in audiences for professional claims dependent on the
social environment (Abbott 1988: 157).
Related to the increase of bureaucracy is that of co-optation, the phenomenon of professions
shrinking in number and becoming more monopolized in power. This process has not
decreased interprofessional competition, but has simply changed its location.... and involving
different arrangements of 'friendly' groups (Abbott 1988: 176). Besides the many social
organizational and structural changes of professions that have occurred throughout the short
history of professions, great cultural changes have also been involved in remaking the work of
professions.
The three of most significance have been
 the growth in size and complexity of professional knowledge,
 the emergence of new types of legitimacy claims for that knowledge,
 and the rise of the university.
The changes in professional knowledge have involved two processes, that of growth and
replacement. Growth has lead to the subdivision of knowledge, while replacement has
pressured knowledge towards abstraction (Abbott 1988: 179). Legitimation of professions
justifies what forms of work they can do and how they are to do it (Abbott 1988: 184).
The emergence of new forms of jurisdictional legitimacy has been warranted by cultural shifts
such as secularization, and changing cultural values. This has led to a shift in professional
legitimation from a reliance on social origins and character values to a reliance on
scientization or rationalization of technique and on efficiency of service (Abbott 1988: 179).
The ascent of the modern university has been a great external force behind the development of
professions. Universities have served as legitimators of professional knowledge and expertise.
They have helped to generate new techniques of practice, and have been the training ground
for professionals.
Finally, universities have also become another arena for interprofessional competition (Abbott
1988: 196).
Section III: Three Case Studies
In his discussion of information professionals Abbott states that there are two types. There are
those who reside in qualitative information, such as librarians, academics, advertisers, and
journalists, and those who abide in quantitative information, such as cost accountants,
management engineers, statisticians, operations researchers, and systems analysts. The move
by qualitative professions into technical organization has been attributed to the concept of
scientific management.
Qualitative information work has been shaped decisively by organizational and demographic
developments... [as well as by] major technological events (Abbott 1988: 219). The area of
quantitative information has developed through the advent of two detrimental disturbances.
One being the invention of mechanical devices for calculation and tabulation, which helped to
rountinize the work, and the other being the birth of cost accounting, which helped
professions to become more competitive (Abbott 1988: 228).
The 1930's were the beginning of the unification between qualitative and quantitative
information. This brought about the emergence of two practical claimants of this new area of
information jurisdiction. The first was information science (IS) which took a purely
theoretical perspective on the topic, and the second was management information systems
(MIS), which had a more practical orientation. The initial structural development of the
English legal profession began in the early 19th century, while the onset of that of the
Americans came at a much later time. Two organizational structures attributed to the growth
in demand for legal services in the 19th century. One was large commercial enterprise, the
other was administrative bureaucracy. In its infancy legal work outgrew its profession. This
led to three types of conflict between competitors within the profession. The first case known
as excess jurisdiction occurs when an incumbent profession cannot grow to meet demand, or
increase output, and thus faces invasion by outsiders. The second kind of conflict arises when
a professional group's potential output exceeds its current jurisdiction. The third type of
conflict occurs when groups who provide equivalent services at lower prices seek to invade
into a settled jurisdiction. Due to the structure of the American legal profession these conflict
problems were less severe than in the British system (Abbott 1988: 252). The American
system because of its use of large firms and the replacement of clerkship with law school,
helped it to produce higher output, thus it avoided problems related to demand and supply
(Abbott 1988: 252). Taken together, this shows that the differences in the development of the
English and American legal system was caused by the actions of the two professions
themselves, the general social environment, and by competitors trying to secure control of
areas of importance to the legal profession (Abbott 1988: 275).
Abbott posits that the birth of professions coincided with the rise of personal problems
(Abbott 1988: 285). Thus, the history of professions is a biography of the relationship
between problems and the tasks that seek to resolve them. The first groups that attempted to
assert professional jurisdiction over these personal problems were the clergy and neurologists.
This was the beginning of a gradual recognition of personal problems as legitimate categories
of professional work (Abbott 1988: 286). Other groups that subsequently joined the race for
professional jurisdiction were gynecologists, psychiatrists, as well as weaker groups such as
psychotherapists.
In his book, Abbott outlines the history of professional development by showing that
professions have evolved simultaneously through similar patterns of development. In chapters
six and seven he argued that professions are organizational structures made-up of many
internal components and divisions of labour. Related to this issue was his belief that
professions were interdependent structures. Abbott believed that the power of professions lay
in their jurisdictional power, which set the boundaries of what an occupation's work
embraced. Work and claims to jurisdiction over tasks for Abbott was what defined a
professions power. He illustrated this by showing that professions struggle and compete
against each other to gain control over undefined and unclear areas of tasks, to expand their
jurisdictional and overall strength. Chapters two to four devote most of their attention to
addressing these issues of work, competition, and claims to legitimacy, which are related to
jurisdictional power.
The primary goal of Abbott's book was to attempt to show that professions exist within a
system, he did this by demonstrating that changes in one affects the other, and that one
profession preempts another's work. This was shown by his outlined principles in chapter four
of his book, which posit that external and internal changes in one profession causes
disturbances through the systems of professions. For professions as he advocated constitute an
interdependent system. Therefore, relations between professions and their work determine the
interwoven history of professional development. In other words, one has helped to transform
the other, similar to the system whereby the factors of genetics and environment symbiotically
influence the direction of evolutionary processes.
Abbott wanted to address the issue that to study the evolution of professions completely and
accurately, it is not enough to study them individually, that researchers have to examine the
relationship and development of all professions to understand any of one them. For
professions are as he states interdependent systems, which influence each other prospectively.
Part B: Discussion
The social construction of skill and its relationship to workers' autonomy and discretion relate
to Abbott's discussion for it was mentioned that workers derive their skill by means of
educational attainment and achievements of credentials. These merits are defined and
constructed by the professions, it is up to their discretion to design the skill requirements for
entry into the professional body. That being so, professions have a structured path for its
prospective employees. This would make the career pattern for many workers quite rigid,
providing them with very little autonomy and discretion in the career choices (Abbott 1988:
129). We alluded to in class that sometimes the social construction of skill may help to
restrain the worker's ability for autonomy and discretion. For instance, in the French system of
the 1970's, the government pushed education to be highly specific in its professional focus
(Abbott 1988: 133). Thus, the educational system produced skilled, but specifically skilled
workers for society. Workers knowledge and skill was highly specific and not broad or
generalizable. The French society socially constructed its own definition of skills needed for
society and education. However, the inevitable consequence of such actions caused the
problem of low interprofessional mobility. Workers there had very little autonomy or
discretion with regard to their work (Abbott 1988: 133).
Here, we see a situation where the social construction of defining skill has led to the
restriction of workers' occupational freedom. Even with the social construction of skills that
defined the potential autonomy for workers, factors related to the organizational structure of
professions can limit such freedom. It was discussed in class that workers choices and
freedom to choose what they want to do is often restricted by structural factors, such as
division of labour and company size. Abbott alludes to this in his discussion of career
patterns, he posits that the career paths in professions are often quite rigid, with very little
chance for interchangeability between professions (Abbott 1988: 129). For example, a doctor
cannot move into the profession of law with his present skills, and vice versa for a lawyer.
The demands of those professions constrict the autonomy professionals within those
professions have, with regards to interprofessional flexibility. Although the case may be that
within their own prospective professions, professionals have their own forms of discretion and
occupational autonomy dependent on their skill and expertise. This inflexibility in
interprofessional and career pattern autonomy is controlled by the factor of demographic
rigidity. Some professions, due to their size and reproduction mechanisms, prevent them from
expanding or contracting, this constrains their professionals from practicing outside of the
profession (Abbott 1988: 129). This illustrates that factors of a professions structure mediates
the affect of socially constructed skill with worker's autonomy and discretion, that the
organization of a profession can confine a professionals occupational freedom.
However, the situation of restricted freedom for occupational alternative is not always the
case, as has been mentioned in class, sometimes through conditions of an individual's skill
and by organizational forces, workers find themselves confronted with opportunities for
advancement or differentiations. Abbott illustrates that through the phenomenons of
specialization and labour division workers can increase their status and thus allow themselves
chances for expansions into other tasks areas (Abbott 1988: 128). Abbott advocates that for
some workers their professions allow them great autonomy and discretion, this is based upon
the set of socially constructed skills they obtained. For example, the skills that society has
required librarians to acquire for their occupations, has given them more opportunity for
personal autonomy and discretion regarding their work (Abbott 1988: 123). Librarians are
differentiated and restricted only by their own diverse choice of clientele (Abbott 1988: 123).
They can choose to work in schools, industry, government, public, and even in academic
areas. Their socially demanded skills in research and knowledge allow them to move from
one professional arena to another with ease, for their skills are highly generalizable (Abbott
1988: 123). Sometimes, an individuals credentials so happens allow him or her access into
other professions, giving him or her discretion to choose where he or she wants to work, or
what tasks he or she wants to do.
Abbott argues that some credentials allow individuals to claim jurisdiction under more than
one profession, allowing them autonomy to choose where they want to reside, and allowing
them the opportunity to switch over to another jurisdiction as they wish (Abbott 1988: 103).
For example, Abbott proposes that a degree such as a M.B.A, because of its broad coverage of
diverse forms of knowledge and training, allows its owners numerous areas for claimants
(Abbott 1988: 103). Thus, students of diverse specialties as psychology, sociology, law,
economic, etc. can claim jurisdiction in business management even though their primary
study has no relations, as long as they possess the certification of a M.B.A degree. Simply by
possessing credentials under a certain expertise and skill that society has defined as expert,
individuals can increase their autonomy of career choice by great folds. This points to the fact
that the attainment of what society constructs as expert skill, can help in ones' achievement of
autonomy and discretion. Another process that leads to the autonomy of the individual is
through the process of degradation. Degradation leads to the explicit division of labour, which
inevitably allows workers different career directions and alternatives (Abbott 1988: 126). In
his discussion of the profession of computer programmers, Abbott illustrates that the sudden
explosion in the computerization of industry in the 1970's created a large demand for
computer programmers. This led to a division in the work between normal and specialist
programmers, and while causing the subordination of some, this created many new
opportunities for specialty (Abbott 1988: 127). Specialists in that field were presented with
total autonomy and discretion with regards to their work. They could set their own standards
and jurisdiction, for there existed no forbearers in their expertise to restrict the creation of
their own jurisdiction (Abbott 1988: 123). As it has just been illustrated, the social
construction of skill and its relationship to workers' autonomy and discretion has not always
been a positive one. In some circumstances, workers are provided with great freedom with
regards to their work, but in others, the defined skills constructed by society help to restrict
the autonomy and discretion of workers. Factors such as government intervention, the
organizational structure of professions, individual merit and choice, and processes of labour
division and destruction all play a role in determining the occupational free choice of workers.
Abbott's book outlined many of these factors, his findings helped to substantiate ideals related
to this topic discussed in class.
Bibliography
Reference Abbott, Andrew. The System of Professions: An Essay on the Division of Expert
Labour. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1988.