Character and social structure : the psychology of social institutions / Hans Gerth, C. Wright Mills.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gerth, Hans, 1908-1979.

Mills, C. Wright (Charles Wright), 1916-1962, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Social psychology.

Physical Description:

xxi, 490 pages ; 20 cm

Edition:

First Harbinger Books edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1964, c1953.

Summary:

"Character And Social Structure" uses the dual perspectives of biology and social psychology to examine man's institutional structures, his acquired attitudes, and the interaction of the individual and society. In a brilliant and bold synthesis of much hitherto-scattered data, the authors give new meaning to the continuing debate over the relative importance of heredity and environment. "Character And Social Structure" was originally published by Harcourt, Brace & World in 1953 as a cloth-cover text, and it has since attracted a worldwide audience.

Contents:

I. Perspectives 3

1. The Biological Model 4

2. The Sociological Model 10

II. Character and Social Structure 19

1. Components of Character Structure 19

2. Components of Social Structure 22

3. The Tasks of Social Psychology 32

Part 2 Character Structure

III. Organism and Psychic Structure 37

1. The Social Relevance of the Organism 37

2. Impulse and Purpose 44

3. Feeling and Emotion 48

4. Impression and Perception 64

5. The Interrelations of the Psychic Structure 68

6. The Social Unity of the Psychic Structure 72

IV. The Person 80

1. Language, Role, Person 81

2. Images of Self 84

3. Unities of Self 91

4. Generalized Others 95

5. The Social Relativity of the Generalized Other 98

6. Types of Persons 106

V. The Sociology of Motivation 112

1. The Sociological Approach 112

2. Vocabularies of Motive 114

3. The "Real" Motives 119

4. Awareness of Motives 125

VI. Biography and Types of Childhood 130

1. The Organism 131

2. The Psychic Structure 133

3. Learning 135

4. Language and Person 137

5. Four Theories of Biography 139

6. The Theory of Adolescent Upheaval 142

7. The Relevance of Childhood 147

8. The Social Relativity of Childhood Influences 157

Part 3 Social Structure

VII. Institutions and Persons 165

1. The Institutional Selection of Persons 165

2. The Institutional Formation of Persons 173

3. The Theory of Premiums and Traits of Character 176

4. Anxiety and Social Structure 183

VIII. Institutional Orders and Social Controls, I 192

1. The Political Order 192

2. Nation and State 197

3. Democracies and Dictatorships 206

4. Economic Institutions 213

5. Types of Capitalism 215

6. The Military Order 223

7. Characteristics of Six Types of Armies 227

IX. Institutional Orders and Social Controls, II 230

1. Religious Institutions 230

2. Characteristics of World Religions 241

3. The Kinship Order 245

4. The Educational Sphere 251

5. Types of Social Control 256

6. Orientation to Social Controls 266

X. Symbol Spheres 274

1. Symbol Spheres in Six Contexts 278

2. Monopoly and Competition of Symbols 287

3. Communication 294

4. The Autonomy of Symbol Spheres 298

XI. Stratification & Institutional Orders 306

1. Occupations 308

2. Class Structure 310

3. The Status Sphere 315

4. Class and Status 322

5. The Status Sphere and Personality Types 325

6. Power 328

7. Stratification and Institutional Dominance 330

8. Stratification and Political Mentality 339

XII. The Unity of Social Structures 342

1. The Unity of Sparta 344

2. Units and Their Relationships 349

3. Modes of Integration 354

4. Why Rome Fell 366

Part 4 Dynamics

XIII. Social-Historical Change 375

1. Six Questions 377

2. The Range of Theory 380

3. The Technological Sphere 388

4. Social-historical Change 398

XIV. The Sociology of Leadership 405

1. The Leader as a Man: His Traits and Motives 406

2. Images of the Leader and Motives of the Led 408

3. Three Functions of Authoritative Roles 413

4. Contexts and Roles 416

5. Role Dynamics and Leadership 419

XV. Collective Behavior 427

1. The Structural Contexts of Collective Behavior 428

2. Aggregates, Crowds, and Publics 432

3. Movements, Parties, and Pressure Groups 438

4. Revolution and Counterrevolution 441

5. Anticapitalistic Movements and Parties 450

XVI. Master Trends 456

1. The Co-ordination of Political, Economic, and Military Orders 457

2. Psychological Aspects of Bureaucracy 460

3. The Decline of Liberalism 464

4. Character Structure in a Polarized World 472.

Notes:

"A Harvest/HBJ Book"

Bibliography: pages 481-485.

ISBN:

015616759X

OCLC:

213745915