Occupational Communication as Boundary Mechanism
Abstract
Occupational Communication as Boundary Mechanism SAGE Publications, Inc.1974DOI: 10.1177/073088847400100404 John F. Runcie University of Michigan-Flint Department of Sociology / -he field of study we call the sociology of occupations j has concentrated on examining the problems and members of occupations but has neglected an important area of investigation that might be profitable. There have been few studies of occupational cultures (for example: Bryant, 1972, on circus performers; Cottrell, 1940, on railroaders) and their attendant problems. We have studies of police, doctors, railroaders, truck drivers, and yet few of these discuss the occupation's culture or its transmission from one occupational generation to another. Although there is some discussion implicitly there is little explicitly. How, for Author's Note: I would like to thank the following people for their extremely helpful comments on earlier drafts of this article: Wilfred G. Marston, Theodore T. Curtis, Susan Gore, Donald B. Walker, Thomas L. Coffey, Hani Fakhouri, Rue Bucher, and an anonymous reviewer. They are, of course, in no way responsible for any shortcomings. SOCIOLOGY OF WORK AND OCCUPATIONS, Vol. 1 No. 4, November 1974 @1974 Sage Publications, Inc. example, do the important aspects of occupations come to be passed on? How do we