Who’s misleading whom? Defining titles in occupations “on the make”

Can occupational titles mislead the public? Should the use of titles be regulated to protect against such a possibility? Traditionally, occupational regulation is conceptualized as a restriction on the practice of an occupation through licensure, often called market shelters). Another less-discussed form of regulation includes titling laws, where the practice of an occupation is unrestricted but the use of the respective occupational title is (Freidson, 1986). Such titles often carry the moniker of ‘registered’ or ‘certified’, but some titling laws protect even the fundamental descriptive word or phrase associated with an occupation.