Looking Over the Wall—The Professionalization of the Field of Prevention

Kimberly Johnson, Ph.D.
University of South Florida

Zili Sloboda, Sc.D., President
Applied Prevention Science International

ABSTRACT:
The field of prevention science and practice has matured over the past 50 years and is increasingly being recognized as a profession. The sociology of professions provides parameters as to what constitutes a profession: having a systematic body of theory; an established knowledge-base; the authority to define problems and their treatment; community sanctions to admit and train its members; ethical codes that stress an ideal of service to others; and a culture that includes the institutions necessary to carry out all of its functions. Another component is achieving international recognition and acceptance and acknowledgement. The status and maturation of the prevention as a profession is reviewed. Recommendations for moving forward are presented including developing a structure to ‘internationalize’ the field of prevention to fully professionalize it that would include such groups as the U.S. and EU Societies for Prevention Research and the International Consortium of Universities for Demand Reduction.