Occupational science and occupational therapy: Negotiating the boundary between a discipline and a profession

Considerable controversy has surrounded the emergence of the discipline of occupational science from the profession of occupational therapy. The arguments for complete partition promote the value of separating the theoretical endeavours, methods of scientific inquiry, and resources. Counterarguments focus on the dangers of separating basic and applied research. This paper introduces a sociological model of professionalisation to account for these positions. Renegotiation of professional and disciplinary boundaries is inevitable. Both groups need to attain ‘closure’ but in a way which will permit exchange of ideas, personnel, and resources.