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 have become so pervasive that no individual or group can escape their influences for long. Therefore, they argue that processes of psychoanalysis must now consider the individual within the framework of a social situation. Focusing upon the larger societal systems, of which both psychiatrist and patient are an integral part, they develop concepts that encompass large-scale events as well as happenings of an individual nature. They have outlined this relationship in a unified theory of communication, which encompasses events linking individual to individual, individual to the group, and ultimately, to events of worldwide concern. The term "social matrix," then, refers to a larger scientific system, of which both the psychiatrist and the patient are integral parts. Jurgen Ruesch was professor of psychiatry at the University of California School of Medicine and director of the section of Social Psychiatry at the Langley Porter Neuropsychatric Institute in San Francisco. Gregory Bateson taught at Columbia University, the New School for Social Research, Harvard University, Stanford University, and the University of California, Santa Cruz. Among his books are "Naven", "Steps to an Ecology of Mind, Mind and Nature: A Necessary Unity", "Angels Fear: Towards an Epistemology of the Sacred", and "A Sacred Unity: Further Steps to an Ecology of Mind".

Communication: The Social Matrix of Psychiatry

Health, Fitness & Dieting

Ruesch, Jurgen

Bateson, Gregory

Psychology & Counseling

W.W. Norton & Co., Inc.

Nonverbal communication: notes on the visual perception of human relations.

University of California Press

Nonverbal Communication: Notes on the Visual Perception of Human Relations [paperback] Ruesch, Jurgen,Kees, Weldon [Apr 01, 1972]

Nonverbal Communication: Notes on the Visual Perception of Human Relations

Self-Help

Kees, Weldon

Relationships

Therapeutic Communication

Reference

Encyclopedias & Subject Guides

Textbook Pub

Knowledge in Action: Communication, Social operations, and Management

Jason Aronson

Politics & Social Sciences

Combs, Gene

Pinsker, Eve C.

Sociology

Routledge

Communication, the Social Matrix of Psychiatry (Classic Reprint)

Forgotten Books

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 have become so pervasive that no individual or group can escape their influences for long. Therefore, they argue that processes of psychoanalysis must now consider the individual within the framework of a social situation. Focusing upon the larger societal systems, of which both psychiatrist and patient are an integral part, they develop concepts that encompass large-scale events as well as happenings of an individual nature. They have outlined this relationship in a unified theory of communication, which encompasses events linking individual to individual, individual to the group, and ultimately, to events of worldwide concern. The term "social matrix," then, refers to a larger scientific system, of which both the psychiatrist and the patient are integral parts.

Understanding how communication works in society is a crucial part of social psychology; this groundbreaking work by Ruesch and Bateson explains themes vital to understanding the subject. Each chapter discusses a new facet of communication; the contexts of promoting harmony and cultural mores between humans, how faults in communication act to announce mental illness, how beliefs and comprehension are solidified. The recurring theme - that communication is a complex interplay of factors, a matrix by which the psychologist can know society - leads on to theoretical discussions of cybernetics: how humans, and the regulated systems and structures they have created, may be understood. Where later studies of communication focus solely on messages and their behavioral ramifications, Ruesch and Bateson's 1951 study delved farther; into the very edifices of modern society. Though their methodology fell out of favor in communicology, this text stands as a proponent of concepts that remain both interesting and relevant. Philosophical concepts of cause-and-effect, of feedback between elements of a communicative system, are posited as crucial to understanding intricacies of modern life. For readers seeking a fresh, embracing introduction to the study of communication, this work brings both essential knowledge and a fascinating history of the discipline.

Communication, the Social Matrix of Psychiatry: Human Psychology, Behavior and Culture in the Modern Society

Pantianos Classics

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