Walter Friedrich (psychologist)

Walter Friedrich (born October 5, 1929 in Neuland , Löwenberg district , Lower Silesia ; † September 12, 2015 in Leipzig , Saxony ) was a German psychologist , educator and youth researcher . In 1966 he was the founder of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) and until 1990 head of the Central Institute for Youth Research .

Life

Walter Friedrich worked as a new teacher from 1948 to 1950 after the Second World War . In 1948 he became a member of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED). After completing his Abitur , he studied pedagogy and psychology at the University of Leipzig from 1950 to 1957 and then went to Dresden to the Pedagogical Institute . In 1959 he returned to Leipzig, where he initially worked as a research assistant at the German University for Physical Culture and Sport and then until 1965 as an assistant or senior assistant at the university's psychological institute. During this time his doctorate he in 1962, two years later, he was with a work on the problems of adolescent psychology habilitation . In 1965 he became an employee of the Office for Youth Issues at the Council of Ministers of the GDR and was commissioned to found the Central Institute for Youth Research . He headed the institute from 1966 to 1990, after which he was managing director of the Research Center for Social Analysis in Leipzig until 1995.

In 1984 he was awarded the Patriotic Order of Merit in gold.

Youth today. Berlin 1966
The social science research process. Berlin 1975
On the critique of bourgeois theories of talent. Berlin 1979
On the psychology of older students. Berlin 1983
International twin research. Berlin 1986
Social psychology for practice. Berlin 1988
Youth East. Between hope and violence. Opladen 1993 (with Peter Förster , Harry Müller, Wilfried Schubarth) ISBN 3-8100-1126-6
Youth in the East: changing political mentality. Leipzig 1996 (with Peter Förster) ISBN 3-929994-68-2
The Central Institute for Youth Research Leipzig 1966 - 1990. History, methods, findings. Berlin 1999 (with Peter Förster, Kurt Starke ) ISBN 978-3-932180-53-8

Short biography for: Friedrich, Walter . In: Who was who in the GDR? 5th edition. Volume 1. Ch. Links, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-86153-561-4 .

personal data
SURNAME	Friedrich, Walter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German psychologist, educator, youth researcher and author
DATE OF BIRTH	October 5, 1929
PLACE OF BIRTH	New territory , Lower Silesia
DATE OF DEATH	September 12, 2015
Place of death	Leipzig