The Professionalization of Psychology in Nazi Germany

ISBN-13: 9780521332972 / Angielski / Twarda / 1992 / 360 str.

Ulfried Geuter

Opis

It has been widely believed that psychology in Germany, faced with political antipathy and mass emigration of its leading minds, withered under National Socialism. Yet in The Professionalization of Psychology in Nazi Germany, Ulfried Geuter tells a radically different story of how German psychology, rather than disappearing, rapidly grew into a fully developed profession under the Third Reich. Author Geuter makes it clear that the rising demands of a modern industrial nation preparing for war afforded the field with a unique opportunity: to transform itself from a marginal academic discipline into a state sanctioned profession. This opportunity was mainly presented by Wehrmacht (the German army), whose demand for psychological expertise led to increasing support for academic departments. The relevance of this book goes beyond the history of German psychology. Its conclusion--that psychology in Germany grew through its alliance with the interests of the army, the industry, and the ruling regime--points toward the larger issue behind the particulars: the tangled relations among science, professional expertise, and state power in modern society. Based on previously restricted archival material and extensive interviews with participating psychologists of the era, The Professionalization of Psychology in Nazi Germany was universally hailed as a benchmark work in the history of psychology upon its publication in Germany. Now, ably translated by Richard Holmes, it is finally available to an English-speaking audience.

Recenzje

"This book, translated from earlier German editions...traces in detail the process whereby psychology was transformed from a highly academic science into a civilservice profession as a result of militarization...Geuter argues that authorities embraced psychology mainly for practical reasons, as a source of useful techniques...The great strength of this study is that it reconstructs the professional milieu of German psychology on the basis of exhaustive archival research and thus provides unprecedented detail on the activities of a community of scientists as they adapted to the demands of powerful political forces." James H. Capshew, ISIS.

Spis treści

Notes to the readers of the English edition; Preface; Glossary of abbreviations; 1. Introduction; 2. On the way to becoming an independent discipline; 3. The potential of psychology for selecting workers and officers: diagnostics, character and expression; 4. Psychologists at work: new professional activities in industry and army and their expansion in the war economy; 5. Legitimation strategies and professional policy; 6. University courses in psychology and the development of the diploma examination regulations (DPO) of 1941; 7. The diploma examination regulations and their consequences; 8. The disbanding of Luftwaffe and army psychology in 1942 and the reorientation of psychology in war; 9. Self-deception, loyalty and solidarity: professionalization as a subjective process; 10. Science, profession and power; Postscript; Comments on sources; Index.