The Influence of Sigmund Freud Upon Sociology in the United States

• Published in: The American journal of sociology 1939-11, Vol.45 (3), p.356-374
• Main Author: Ernest W. Burgess
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Human behavior; Motivation; Personality psychology; Psychoanalysis; Psychological techniques; Psychology; Social psychology; Social research; Social theories; Unconscious mind
• ISSN: 0002-9602; 1537-5390
• DOI: 10.1086/218308

The failure of psychoanalysis to make headway with sociologists in the United States during the first decade after its introduction into this country may be explained partly on the basis of the lag between the time of publication and actual consideration of Freudian theories, but more basically because of an aversion toward the explanation of human behavior in terms of sexual motivation,its particularistic emphasis, the simpler and apparently adequate cultural interpretations of behavior, a predisposition against absolute explanations as opposed to the relative, its apparently questionalble technique, the rise of rival schools of psychoanalysis, its lack of integration with previous studies of instinct, existing sociological conceptual schemes of motivation, a trend away from the theory of insticts, and a preoccupation on the part of sociologists with their own problems. The further working-out and integrating of methods for investigating the subjective life of their phenomena are viewed as the basic methodological problems of the psychological and social sciences. To Freud must go credit for the creation of psychoanalysis as an intellectual discipline, and particularly for the perfection of the method of free association, the utilization and analysis of dream material, and the organization of a unified conceptual system. It was the mutual need in psychoanalysis and socianalysis that both aspects of conduct, psychogenic and cultural, be understood that led students in each field to seek what the other had to offer. The levels of influence of psychoanalysis upon sociologists since 1920 may be summarized as (1) indirect influence upon those who reject it; (2) uncritical acceptance; (3) attempts at testing its theories; (4) utilization of its concepts in terms of social processes; and (5) attempts at integration of viewpoints, concepts, and ,in a few cases, research methods of psychoanalysis and sociology. A final stage in the combination of psychoanalytic and sociological methods remains to be taken, that of co-operative research. In the writer's Opinion Freud's most valuable contributions to sociology are (1) establishing of the role of unconscious factors in human behavior, (2) emphasis on the role of wish fulfilment, and (3) analysis of the formation of dynamic traits and patterns in personality development independent of cultural influence.