Why do we need professional bodies?
SAQA in its Policy & Criteria for Recognising a Professional Body and Registering a Professional Designation for the Purposes of the National Qualifications Framework Act, Act 67 of 2008, lists a set of criteria that it requires to have been met when bodies apply for professional body recognition, including a formal constitution, continuous professional development, and the award of a professional designation by the professional body (SAQA, 2012).
I also considered the lists of functions of professional bodies from academic literature on this topic and identified the following traditional traits or functions of professional bodies:
Formal constitution
Horn (1978) points out that the necessity of a formal association is logically derived from the presupposition that a profession is a collective or a group concept. If one profession is to be distinguished from other professions and other occupational groupings, it must have the kind of identity which only becomes visible in a formal organisation.
Specialised knowledge
Freidson (2001) states that, while all occupations contain some blend of skills, knowledge, qualification and competence, professions involve a ‘special kind of knowledge ... believed to require the exercise of discretionary judgment and a grounding in abstract theory and concepts’, thus differentiating between professions and occupations.
Ethics and public service
The code of ethics defines ‘what is proper and improper behaviour and forms the embodiment of the moral standards of a professional service’ (Kubr, 1996:115).
Professional designations and licensure
Balthazard (2010:1) calls professional designations ‘warrants of competence’. He explains that ‘professional designations are always built upon a practice analysis which defines what certified individuals need to know or be able to do’ and that practical work experience is therefore often required before a designation can be conferred.
Status, prestige and power
Many authors agree that professions enjoy a high social status, regard and esteem conferred upon them by society. According to Morrel (2013), this high esteem arises primarily from the higher social function of their work, which is regarded as vital to society as a whole and thus of having a special and valuable nature.
Continuous professional development (CPD)
Through the enforcement of CPD, professional bodies give the public, the sector and the government confidence that individual professionals will be striving to continuously improve their skills, knowledge and expertise to offer the highest quality and exemplary professional services (IFL, 2009).
My own view is that a professional body exists for two main reasons: to professionalise the profession that it serves, and to give the public comfort. All the other functions serve to inform those two goals.
Any views?