Abstract

This thesis describes naturopathic practitioners with two different world views--holistic and scientific, and explores the effects of these two world views on practitioners' socialization experiences and practice patterns. Data were gathered by three different methods: 14-page questionnaire mailed to all 296 naturopathic practitioners licensed in Canada; participant observation study at the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine ; and open-ended interviews with 16 students attending CCNM and 41 naturopathic practitioners which were audio-taped and transcribed verbatim. Each method was employed within a symbolic interactionist perspective and analyzed using a grounded methodological approach. ;Practitioners who do not perceive a fundamental separation between the physical and spiritual world were classified as having a holistic world view. These practitioners were found to be subjective and intuitive, emphasizing treatment on a mental or emotional level. Practitioners who had a more objective, reductionistic and mechanistic view of the world, emphasizing treatment on a physical or structural level, were classified as having a scientific world view. Individuals with both world views entered naturopathic training and none of the practitioners who were interviewed reported a change in world view while at naturopathic college. However, practitioners reported a new-found appreciation of the "other" world view on completion of their training, indicating the presence of a socialization effect. ;Many decisions involved in setting up a practice and seeing patients were modulated by the practitioners' world views. For example, there were distinct differences in the way the practitioners with different world views who were interviewed chose treatment modalities. Scientific practitioners reported choosing treatments based on the available "scientific evidence", while holistic practitioners included a careful exploration of the patient's spirit and their own intuition in their treatment decisions. In addition, holistic practitioners reported significantly longer patient visits than scientific practitioners. ;The data presented here suggest that one's world view influences one's perceptions of socialization experiences and social situations, and modulates the effects of both on practice patterns. There is evidence of a similar holistic/scientific dichotomy in a variety of occupations and professions, including allopathic medicine, which needs to be explored in future research