Two major factors influence interoccupational relations, occupational culture and occupational structure. Occupational elements of policing and social work include mission, objectives, social ideology, strategy, intervention, and domain. Significant differences exist between these elements for policing and social work. Further, demographic characteristics of policing and social work, specifically gender and education, produce unique occupational identities. Cultural and structural properties fundamentally divide the police from social work. Social workers often perceive the police as clumsy, prejudiced, over-reactive, and professionally insensitive, while the police frequently view social workers as soft, lacking in social conscience, and professionally naive. The author concludes that proposals to improve police-social work relationships may not be feasible and that each occupation should simply fulfill its societal role on its own. 92 references