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Occupational therapists and the concept of power: A review of the literature
Author(s) -
Griffin Susan
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
australian occupational therapy journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.595
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1440-1630
pISSN - 0045-0766
DOI - 10.1111/j.1440-1630.2001.00231.x
Subject(s) - professionalization , occupational therapy , dominance (genetics) , perspective (graphical) , power (physics) , psychology , health care , medicine , psychotherapist , nursing , sociology , political science , social science , psychiatry , biochemistry , chemistry , physics , quantum mechanics , artificial intelligence , computer science , law , gene
The concept of power is discussed in the broader health literature and the occupational therapy literature from three perspectives. These are the trait approaches to professionalization, the medical dominance perspective and the view of health care work places as organizations. The results of the review suggest that the power of the profession of occupational therapy is linked to a number of factors. These include its status as an occupation, the fact that the majority of its members are women and the extent to which therapists have knowledge and skills related to working with other disciplines in a changing political climate. While the review enables the type of knowledge and skills which would assist therapists to develop and exercise their power within the health sector to be suggested, the extent to which therapists actually possess the knowledge and skills is unknown due to a lack of research in the area.