With the increased attention on labour market participation, the field of work reintegration support has grown dramatically. In order to improve professionals' performance, standards and performance measures are introduced in this field. We question whether this will improve the quality of their work. Closer scrutiny needs to be paid to the inherently normative and structuring role of professional judging. We applied the concept of 'frames of reference' to the process of professional judgement in work reintegration. This concept helped us to understand how a work reintegration professional structures a client's story through implicit rules that escape formalization and control mechanisms. On the basis of 24 in-depth interviews with diverse work reintegration professionals in the Netherlands, we distinguish five of these frames: a procedural, a work-focused, a caring, a learning and a facilitating frame of reference. Furthermore, we show that professionals differ widely in the images they have of clients, leading to a large variety in judgement of, and interaction with, clients. Though differences between professionals are inherent to a complex and dynamic field as work reintegration, the current variety in professional-client contact in work reintegration seems to depend too much on arbitrary professional preferences. Therefore, reflection on these differences, both among professionals and by policymakers, is needed in order to improve the professional practice of work reintegration service.

In the past 30 years, the introduction of new providers of policing services has meant that the policing landscape in many countries has changed considerably. In the Netherlands, an important aspect of this ‘pluralization of policing’ is the introduction of municipal officers: new, public officials who are employed by Dutch municipalities. This article discusses how front-line professionals themselves view these changes and the division of labour between the regular police and municipal officers. By interpreting their views as strife and contestation over professional domains and by borrowing concepts from the sociology of professions, it adds a novel perspective to the current debate on plural policing. The article discerns four views, two of which highlight differences and two of which highlight similarities between these professions. In interpreting these views, the article states that officers define their professions mostly by referring to fundamental argumentations about professional core aspects and higher values. This implies the ‘professional projects’ of front-line workers might be as important as their orientation on outside (societal) needs and desires.

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Traditionally, the military is associated with obedience, rule compliance and limited discretion on the part of its personnel. This contribution shows that this imagery has been superseded and argues that changes in mission outlook and the partial shift towards police-like work necessitates a revaluation of military discretionary autonomy. In addition, it explores the moral implications of this constabularization of the military and discusses how the moral demands police officers face as street-level bureaucrats might apply to military settings. By comparing the military profession with police officers’ discretion and the moral character of their work, this chapter aims to provide a particular perspective on what it might mean to be a contemporary soldier.