Sociology 315.  Assignment 3
Due November 17

Do __either this assignment or assignment 2.

     Write a paper on one of the following topics.

     1. Braverman implies that the degradation of work in modern
capitalism is universal: he suggests that in virtually all jobs,
conception and execution have been separated and the worker has no
autonomy or responsibility.

     Most people would argue that this is not true of most profes-
sional-level jobs.  But there are also jobs of lower levels of
status and skill in which workers appear to exercise a great deal
of autonomy.  

     The following two readings describe two very different jobs in
which workers are not subject to direct control.  Write a paper
discussing the limits of Braverman's argument from the standpoint
of these two occupations.  Discuss Braverman's treatment and the
conditions which in his view produce the de-skilling and
degradation of work.  (You may also bring in material from Garson
and from Hodson and Sullivan.)  Then discuss the conditions which
save cabdrivers and construction workers from that de-skilling and
preserve their occupational autonomy.  Are the conditions the same
for the two occupations?  Do these findings invalidate Braverman's
theory? 

     Fred Davis, "The Cabdriver and his Fare," _American Journal of
Sociology_ 65 (September, 1959), 158-65.

     Jeffrey W. Riemer, "Worker Autonomy in the Skilled Building
Trades."  Pp. 225-34 in Phyllis L. Stewart and Muriel G. Cantor,
eds., _Varieties of Work_ (Beverly Hills: Sage Publications, 1982).

2. According to the sociological model, a profession is a body of
practitioners who share a theoretical core of knowledge which is
unknown to clients.  Because the professionals provide a vital ser-
vice, clients need to consult them, but are unable to judge their
performance.  Thus, professionals are autonomous; their good faith
is guaranteed by a professional code of ethics which guarantees
that individual members of the profession will carry out their
duties faithfully.

     Yet occupations which call themselves professions differ
considerably in the extent of autonomy.  For some professions, such
as medicine, the individual practitioner or the profession as a
whole exercise considerable control.  Other professions, including
social work, are largely subordinate to control exercised from
other sources such as the employing organization.  This difference
is due to several factors: there is a more elaborate body of
theoretical knowledge underlying the practice of medicine; medicine
also has a higher status and is practiced in different
organizational settings.  

     Compare the professions of medicine and social work to
determine what are the factors allowing medicine a greater degree
of autonomy.

     Base your analysis on the assignments in section 8 of the
syllabus, especially those by Hodson and Sullivan, Greenwood,
Reskin and Padavic, and Wilensky, and on the following readings:

     Freidson, _Professional Dominance_, 81-126

     Toren, "Semi-Professionalism and Social Work: A Theoretical
Perspective," pp. 141-95 in Etzioni, ed., _The Semi-Professions and
their Organization: Teachers, Nurses, Social Workers_

     The paper should be 4-6 typed, double-spaced pages. It must
include references and bibliography in correct form.