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______________________________________________________________________________________________ Subject PSYCHOLOGY Paper No and Title Paper No. 3: Qualitative Methods Module No and Title Module No. 27: Psychobiographies and Psychohistorical methods Module Tag PSY_P3_M27 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Learning Outcomes 2. Introduction 3. Psychobiographies and psychohistorical methods 3.1 Psychohistory definition 3.2 What is psychohistory and what is not? 3.3 Varieties of explanations 3.4 Areas of Psychohistory PSYCHOLOGY PAPER No. 3: Qualitative Methods MODULE No.27: Psychobiographies and Psychohistorical Methods ______________________________________________________________________________________________ 3.5 Lifton’s model of Psychohistory 3.6Problems posed by psychohistory 3.7Remediation for the concerns of psychohistory 3.8Psychobiography definition 3.9Historical antecedents of Psychobiography 3.10 The chronicled development of psychobiographical method 3.11 Processes underlying the method of Psychobiogaphy 3.12Psychobiography: Limits and Usefulness 4. Summary PSYCHOLOGY PAPER No. 3: Qualitative Methods MODULE No.27: Psychobiographies and Psychohistorical Methods ______________________________________________________________________________________________ 1. Learning Outcomes After studying this module, you shall be able to Know the purpose of psychohistorical and psychobiographical method and become aware of what kinds of inquiry and analysis is entailed in psychohistory and what are not Understand the causal and coherent whole forms of explanations used to describe psychohistorical methods Get acquainted with the three areas of psychohistory and the four paradigms suggested by Robert Lifton Narrate the historical antecedents of Psychobiography and the history of its evolution as an established form of inquiry Get familiar with all the processes underlying the method of psychobiography Acknowledge the problems posed by psychohistory as well as it’s remediation and also recognise the limitations and usefulness of psychobiography method 2. Introduction This module begins with mentioning the definition of Psychohistory and specifying what features entails psychohistorical method and what doesn’t. Following that causal and coherent varieties of explanation are delineated and the areas of psychohistory are outlined. After that Lifton’s four model or paradigms in psychohistory is explained briefly and the problems presented in psychohistory method is declared along with some remediation. Next, the method of psychobiography is defined along with causal and coherent whole explanations. This is followed by its historical antecedents and the chronicle of the evolution of this method. The processes underling the method is also mentioned stepwise and lastly the limitations and usefulness of Psychobiography is narrated. 3. Psychobiographies and Psychohistorical methods 3.1 Psychohistory definition There has been considerable confusion and disagreements regarding the matters of definition, aim and method of psychohistory. Several scholars and researchers suggest different ideas and connotations to describe this method. For e.g. DeMause (1975) considers psychohistory as the history of the psyche; Kovel (1971) regards it as a concept of culture that involves a system of shared meaning; while Dunn (1974) conceptualizes it as an approach to understand the past through merging of the historical and psychological traditions. Also, the aim of psychohistory PSYCHOLOGY PAPER No. 3: Qualitative Methods MODULE No.27: Psychobiographies and Psychohistorical Methods ______________________________________________________________________________________________ gathers differing views as deMause (1975) states it as discovery of laws while Lifton observes the aim as a new search for human essence. Even the methods advocated by psychohistorians are present in varieties. Where Mazlish (1972) propagates the application of psychoanalytic theory to history, Erikson (1964) though agreeing to this proposition further adds to it the concept of identity as a historical tool; while Binion (1976) asked to focus on the ‘feeling out’ of motives behind the significant actions. 3.2 What is psychohistory and what it is not? Very little attention has been given by psychohistorians to the problem of defining psychohistory. The simple assumption that some combination of psychology and history comprises psychohistory is not at all satisfactory. Hence, in order to prevent the looseness of this subject matter, it is important to construct a workable definition. According to Crosby & Crosby (1981), psychohistory is a form of history which explicitly uses the concepts, principles and theories of psychology to enhance our understanding of particular people and events in the past. This definition can be simultaneously considered more inclusive as well as more restrictive than others. It is relatively inclusive in the sense that this definition doesn’t restrict psychohistory to only one or selected few kinds of psychological principles; rather it allows the use of variety of principles, concepts or theories. When the subject of inquiry is a single actor then applying some form of personality theory would be more helpful and if mass movements are the subject, the principles of social psychology seems more relevant. Also, this inclusive definition avoids the tendency to associate psychohistory exclusively with psychoanalytic theory. Being more inclusive in defining works of psychohistory than others, it also presents some exclusive characteristics as according to this definition, excluded from psychohistory are works wherein psychological concepts, principles and theories are insignificant and play only a minor role. Biographical examples covered under psychohistorial speculations that have only brief psychological references and rarely used psychological terminologies aren’t sufficiently developed enough to be qualified as works of psychohistorical endeavors. In the same way, family history or histories of child- rearing practices cannot be termed psychohistorical unless they make use of psychological principles or concepts. The workable definition also excludes such works that use historical data for psychological purposes. There are numerous examples where the psychologists have made use of historical data in various ways that are interesting and legitimate but that are not psychohistorical. For example, Phyllis Greenacre’s examination of treason cases was not carried out with the aim of explaining the past but to mainly establish “the fundamental characteristics of the traitor”. Even Lifton’s work of examining the attempts at adaptation of Hiroshima survivors and Vietnam War veterans to peacetime conditions was implemented with the hope to discover a better means PSYCHOLOGY PAPER No. 3: Qualitative Methods MODULE No.27: Psychobiographies and Psychohistorical Methods ______________________________________________________________________________________________ of helping future generations cope with stressful historical events. Thus, in such cases where the scholar’s interest in a particular historical subject is concerned more with the lessons that it provides to the modern man, then the whole objective of historical understanding may be lost. Similarly, the studies of decision- making by Suedfeld and his colleagues (1976), McClelland’s (1961) studies of achievement, Davies’ (1962,1969) studies of revolution etc can all be cited as the work of psychological use of history or in other words, they can be connoted as transhistorical psychology. 3.3 Varieties of explanations Psychohistorians mainly tend to use two types of explanations: Causal and coherent whole (Crosby, 1979; Farrell, 1963; Strout, 1968). Causal explanations can be described as those explanations that seek to account for adult behavior in terms of childhood experiences. These explanations of psychohistory tend to ask such questions as: Why was the person the way he was? Why did the group act the way it did? On the other hand, Coherent whole explanations, aim to foster a unified whole out of apparently scattered bits of data in the way as it related to the actions of persons or groups. Causal explanations ask such questions as: What was a person like? What was a group like? Etc 3.4 Areas of Psychohistory According to Lloyd deMause, there are three inter-related areas of psychohistorical study-: History of Childhood- In this particular area, the questions looked upon are : How have the children been raised throughout? How has the family been constituted? How & why has it changed over time and the place & value of children in society over time? How & why our views of child abuse and neglect have changed? Why there is still such denial about the reality of child abuse? The reason why so much attention is paid to the childhood is because it is believed that here at this point; much of the groundwork for our future emotional development is created. So, if we want to understand our emotional development in a better manner and how & why it has changed over time, we need to effectively comprehend the history of our childhood. Psychobiograhy- Here we seek to understand single historical individuals and their motivations in history. This area mainly involves understanding a person's emotional growth, his/her personal, family, and societal relations, the time in which the person PSYCHOLOGY PAPER No. 3: Qualitative Methods MODULE No.27: Psychobiographies and Psychohistorical Methods ______________________________________________________________________________________________
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