The Way We Were: Thinking Rationally

Abstract

This is the second of three articles arising from a study that employed a history of ideas approach to explore how occupational therapists working in the United Kingdom before 1962 thought about their practice. The perspective taken was that people think about things in ways that are consistent with Western society's philosophical roots in Romanticism and rationalism. The data were drawn from books and journals published between 1938 and 1962. The purpose of the study was to learn about the profession as it was being established, in order to increase understanding of current practice issues and concerns. The focus of this article is occupational therapists' rationalism, which is evident in their careful accrual of technical expertise and attempts to account for their practice. Over time, occupational therapists' proclivity to organise and expand their knowledge base supported developments in vocational rehabilitation and activities of daily living programmes. These efforts were encouraged by other health professions and while they helped to secure occupational therapists' place in rehabilitation settings, they also contributed to the decline in craftwork, an emphasis on independence in activities of daily living, and circumscribed therapeutic goals.