Professional norms obligate workers to serve clients’ interests without personal gain

Evidence

Second, professional norms of behavior toward clients provide a measure of resistance to bureaucratization. Street-level bureaucl ats’ claims of professional status imply a commitment that clients’ interests will guide them in providing service. The implicit bargain between the professions and society is that in exchange for self-regulation they will act in clients’ interest without regard for personal gain and without compromising their advocacy. In a word, according to professional norms professionals’ interest as expressed on behalf of clients must be unalloyed. — Michael Lipsky, Street-Level Bureaucracy, 1372

Categorization

• XREF: Frames the professional-client bargain as a counterweight to the bureaucratic routinization the reader is tracking; connects to literature on professional self-regulation and discretion.