American Pediatrics: The Social Dynamics of Professionalism, 1880-1980

· Univ of California Press
Ebook
240
Pages
Eligible
Ratings and reviews aren’t verified  Learn More

About this ebook

Today's parents routinely consult pediatricians for care of sick youngsters, information on child development, and advice on problems of child management. Yet only a hundred years ago, special medical services for children barely existed. During the intervening century, physicians defined a new field and built occupational structures that established pediatrics as a permanent division of medical practice. Professor Halpern traces the development of American pediatrics over the last century and identifies social processes underlying its evolution. How did the pediatric specialty arise? Through what processes did it emerge? What forces shaped its changing scope and organization? In addressing these questions, the author draws on a rich combination of primary and secondary historical sources, unpublished documents, and interview data. She shows how successive generations of specialists redefined pediatrics and created a series of occupational institutions, including professional societies, academic divisions, training programs, and certifying boards. American Pediatrics offers an original approach to the study of medical specialties and professions and contributes a new perspective on professionalism. Showing specialties to be both products and agents of societal change, the book highlights multiple and interrelated forces contributing to the rise of new professions and documents the influence of surrounding occupations on the shape specialties assume. Halpern enriches our understanding of American medicine and clarifies the origins of expert services for children and families. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1988.

About the author

Sydney A. Halpern is Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the University of Illinois, Chicago.

Rate this ebook

Tell us what you think.

Reading information

Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
eReaders and other devices
To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.