The integration of psychiatry into the mainstream of American society following World War II involved rethinking and revision of psychiatric theories. While in the past, theories of personality had been concerned with the single individual, this pioneering volume argues that such theories are of little use. Instead, the individual must be seen in the context of social situations in which rapid advances in communication technology have brought people closer together, changing their behavior and self-expression. Ruesch and Bateson show that following World War II mass communication and culture...

Gregory Bateson's work continues to touch others in fields as diverse as communication, ecology, anthropology, philosophy, family therapy, education, and mental/spiritual health. The authors in this special issue of Cybernetics & Human Knowing (C&HK) celebrate the Bateson Centennial.

-Naven- is the name of a peculiar ritual practiced by Iatmul, a head-hunting tribe of New Guinea.Th e ceremony is performed to congratulate members of the tribe upon the completion of notable accomplishments, among which homicide ranks highest. Ordinarily this tribe insists upon an extreme contrast between the sexes, but in the -naven- ceremony, tranvestitism and ritual homosexuality are represented. The -naven- serves in this book as a motive around which the author has constructed one of the most influential works of field anthropology ever written.