Self-regulation in a small professional group is an important step toward professionalization: the Chiropractic Association in Singapore

Abstract 

Objective

The chiropractic profession is immersed in the process of professionalization with particular consideration of self-regulation as an avenue toward state recognition in Singapore. The purpose of this article is to discuss the emergence of chiropractic as a profession in Singapore and the Chiropractic Association (Singapore).

Discussion

The concept of professionalization is varied and context based, and the institutionalization of formal knowledge plays an important role in the socialization of how a profession forms a unifying identity. The difference in institutional socialization of the professions plays a role in the way a profession is perceived in the hierarchy of societal power. Continuing professional development is an essential part of professionalism and is best done within the realm of self-regulation and autonomous control of the profession itself.

Conclusion

The social process of professionalization can be a process of internal conflict and external battles almost from the profession's inception with university training only entering late in its development, rather than being a linear development. A sequential progress ensued as with other professions, with the seeking of legal protection and a code of ethics as the final areas reached toward becoming an acknowledged member of the health care system.

Key indexing terms: Chiropractic, Health occupations