Seymour Sarason

Seymour B. Sarason (born January 12, 1919 in Brownsville , Brooklyn , New York City , † January 28, 2010 in New Haven , New York ) was an American psychologist .

biography

Origin, degree and clinical psychologist

Sarason came from a poor family and grew up in Newark, New York . When he during the visit of the High School of poliomyelitis fell ill, he encouraged his mother to former US president Franklin D. Roosevelt , who suffered from polio also to ask in a letter for help. To the amazement of the family, he received a letter from Marguerite "Missy" LeHand, the President's private secretary, in which the Sarason was promised treatment and, as a result, he was virtually cured of the disease.

He later studied at the University of Newark , where he earned a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in 1939 . He then completed postgraduate studies at Clark University , graduating in 1940 with a Master of Science (M.Sc.). In 1942 he received his doctorate in clinical psychology. While working as a clinical psychologist at a new facility for the mentally retarded in Southbury , Dr. Sarason with the idea that facilities could do more harm than good.

As a clinical psychologist , however, he quickly became disillusioned with the prevailing thesis that individual problems can be analyzed and treated individually. While working for a state retardation facility in Massachusetts , he became aware that many mental disorders stem from social ties and organizational cultures.

Professor at Yale and Foundation of Community Psychology

In 1945 he began his work as a professor at Yale University , where he taught until his retirement in 1989.

During his previous activity, he felt particularly disturbed by the fact that psychological tests were more likely to measure the deficits of the patients. In contrast, he saw the need to promote potential, for example by attending art courses.

He published these approaches to his thinking in his first book, "Psychological Problems in Mental Deficiency" (1949), which examined social and cultural factors that influenced subnormal behavior.

At Yale University he founded the Institute for Psychological Education (Psycho-Educational Institute), a clinic for the development of new approaches to treating the problems of children and adolescents. The clinic's psychologists and students not only worked in the clinic itself, but also went to schools, childcare facilities and educational homes in order to work with the employees there in the familiar surroundings of the children and young people.

His work at the Psycho-Educational Institute, of which he was director from 1961 to 1970, led to his series of specialist books such as:

• "Psychology in Community Settings", 1966
• "The Culture of the School and the Problem of Change", 1971
• "The Creation of Settings and The Future Societies", 1972
• "The Psychological Sense of Community: Prospects for a Community Psychology," 1974.

His community psychology approach to psychological problems drew on a number of subject areas, and he wrote on a number of these topics, particularly education. He viewed traditional schools and what he called the "nested classroom" as enemies of learning and human potential, disconnected from the larger society around them and hampered by a lack of teacher collaboration.

Despite being deeply pessimistic about school reforms , he nonetheless published a number of books on the subject such as:

• "The Preparation of Teachers: An Unstudied Problem of Education," 1962
• "How Schools Might be Governed and Why", 1997
• "Educational Reform: A Self-Scutinizing Memoir", 2002.

In 1988 his autobiography "The Making of an American Psychologist" was published.

Most recently, shortly before his death, he finished "Centers for Endings: The Coming Crisis in the Care of Aged People", the publication of which is planned posthumously .

As a psychologist, his fundamental work on social bonds and their influence on individual problems contributed to the establishment of the community psychology department. As the author of more than 40 books, he presented his practical knowledge of social psychology in many areas such as the treatment of people with mental disorders and retardation , educational reforms, teacher training and care for the elderly .

In an obituary, Andy Hargreaves, Professor and Holder of the Thomas More Brennan Chair in Education at the Lynch School of Education at Boston College , paid tribute to him as follows:

"He founded the field of community psychology. It didn't really exist before him and he was one of the very first people to take a clear path about educational reform and school culture from the perspective of the people who are experiencing the changes there - teachers, pupils and students." ("It did not really exist before him. And he was one of the very first people to write in an explicit way about educational reform and the culture of the school from the perspective of the people who experience the change - teachers and students." )

Web links

• NEW YORK TIMES: "Seymour B. Sarason, Leader in Community Psychology, Dies at 91" (February 8, 2010)