Interprofessional practice

Over 20 years ago, US sociologist Abbott, in his seminal text The System of Professions, was prescient in suggesting organisations compete with the professions for control of work. He traced the cultural and social forces bearing on the professions and argued, since one profession can preempt another's work, the histories of the professions are inevitably interdependent. Taking a systemic perspective and analysing three detailed case histories: information, law, and psychotherapy, Abbott (1988) examined how a chain of effects might begin in external events or within the professions themselves, and how new groups could emerge. This chapter presents a case study of a systemic analysis of the forces at work and their implications for the profession of social work as it grapples with interprofessional learning for interprofessional practice.