Lewis Yablonsky

Lewis Yablonsky (born November 23, 1924 in Irvington , New Jersey , † January 29, 2014 in Santa Monica , California ) was an American sociologist , criminologist and psychotherapist .

Criminal Sociology and Psychodrama

Yablonsky studied sociology and criminology at Rutgers University and received a Ph.D. from New York University in 1958. PhD. He taught at various well-known universities, such as Harvard University and Columbia University and was Professor of Criminology and Sociology at California State University, Northridge in Los Angeles since 1963 . He also worked as a psychotherapist ( psychodrama ).

Yablonski belonged to the first generation of practitioners of the psychodramatic method and worked closely with Jacob Levy Moreno . Using the sociometric method developed by Moreno, he researched the relationships between members of criminal groups. This resulted in his concept of the near group , which became a classic component of subculture theory . Yablonsky also treated many of his subjects in psychodrama sessions. As he reported in his autobiography, he had been in contact with lower-class offenders since his early youth. He grew up in the Newark ghetto, New Jersey , and attended a school there that was dominated by African American gangs .

In connection with his research on subculture, Yablonsky got to know Charles E. Dederich and Synanon , about which he wrote the first book, which later received worldwide attention. In addition to various criminal sociological writings and books on psychotherapy and the treatment of drug addicts, he also wrote a sociological account of the hippie culture .

Yablonski was in 1958 criminal policy advisor to Nelson Rockefeller , who ran for governor of New York State . The title of a legal him in 2001 Honorary Doctor of Michigan State University awarded.

Fonts (selection)

• The violent gang , New York: Macmillan, 1962.
• The tunnel back. Synanon , New York: Macmillan, 1965.
• The hippie trip , New York, Pegasus, 1968.
• Robopaths , Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1972.
• The therapeutic community. A successful approach for treating substance abusers , New York: Gardner Press, 1989, ISBN 089876145X .
• Gangsters. Fifty years of madness, drugs and death on the streets of America, New York: New York University Press, 1997, ISBN 0814796796 .
• Gangs in court , Tucson: Lawyers & Judges Pub. Co., 2005, ISBN 1930056796 .

Fonts in German translation

• Synanon. Self-help of addicts and criminals , Stuttgart: Klett, 1975, ISBN 3-12-908830-X .
• The therapeutic community. A successful way out of drug addiction , Weinheim: Beltz, 1990, ISBN 3-407-55736-1 .
• You are me. The infinite father-son relationship , Cologne: Edition Humanistische Psychologie, 1991, ISBN 3-926176-33-4 .
• Psychodrama: Solving emotional problems through role play , Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta, 1978, ISBN 3-12-909000-2 (second edition 1992)
• The charm of money , Cologne: Edition Humanistische Psychologie, 1992, ISBN 3-926176-43-1 .

Web links

• Literature by and about Lewis Yablonsky in the catalog of the German National Library
• Personal website ( Memento from January 20, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
• Yablonsky's résumé on the scientific work ( memento from February 22, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
• Findings of the 50th sociological interaction Yablonskys by the American Sociological Association (English)

References and comments

1. ↑ According to another source, Yablonsky was born in Newark , New Jersey (see Personal Lexicon of Psychotherapy . Springer, 2005. p. 522).
2. ^ Elaine Woo: Lewis Yablonsky dies at 89; Cal State Northridge sociologist. In: Los Angeles Times, February 18, 2014 (accessed February 19, 2014).
3. ↑ Basically: Lewis Yablonsky, The Violent Gang , 1962.
4. ^ Lewis Yablonsky: Confessions Of A Criminologist. Some of my best friends were Sociopaths , 2010.
5. ^ Lewis Yablonsky: Synanon The Tunnel Back , 1965.
6. ↑ Such as: Lewis Yablonsky, Gangsters: 50 Years of Madness, Drugs and Death on the Streets 0f America , 1997.
7. ^ Lewis Yablonsky: The Hippie Trip , 1968.
8. ↑ Personal Lexicon of Psychotherapy . Springer, 2005. p. 522.

Web links

• Portrait of sociologist Dr. Lewis Yablonsky , 1965, in the Los Angeles Times Photographic Archive (Collection 1429). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library , University of California, Los Angeles .