title: Professionals: their problems, their fears, and their social responsibilities.
abstract: Professional societies have been reluctant to enter actively into the public processes by which decisions are made on economic, social, and political issues. This reluctance comes from (1) fears about the status of the profession and the professional society, (2) fears about economic reprisal, (3) potential conflicts between the goals of a philosophy of trade unionism and the goals of a philosophy of professional social responsibility, and (4) domination of some professional societies by nonprofessional business, industrial, or administrative groups. This reluctance has been justified by the development of a myth that the professional can exercise individual social responsibility while maintaining the neutrality of his institutions and societies. This myth must be ignored because our public decision-making processes can only function properly if groups, such as professional societies, actively enter that decision-making process.
mesh_terms: D004467:Economics; D007996:Library Associations; D011057:Politics; D011364:Professional Practice; D012940:Social Problems; D012952:Societies; D014481:United States