Psychology

The Meaning of Criminal Insanity examines the persistent challenges of defining and applying the insanity defense in criminal law. The book critiques historical and contemporary approaches, from the 1843 M'Naghten case, which established a lasting but limited standard, to more modern attempts like the American Law Institute's Model Penal Code. These legal tests often rely on ambiguous phrases such as "mental disease" or "irresistible impulse," which fail to provide a clear framework for assessing responsibility. The author highlights the broader implications of the insanity plea, including its impact on civil rights, public safety, and the balance of legal and psychiatric authority. Arguing against simplistic solutions like abolishing the plea or delegating its determination entirely to experts, the book advocates for a nuanced understanding that respects both legal principles and psychiatric insights.

At its core, the book seeks to clarify the moral-legal rationale behind excusing individuals deemed insane from criminal liability. It argues that the concept of insanity should center on the individual’s substantial inability to act rationally with respect to the criminality of their actions. By proposing this as the foundation for reform, the text emphasizes the importance of maintaining the insanity plea as a safeguard for justice. This plea not only protects the rights of those with profound mental disorders but also reflects society’s commitment to treating individuals as rational agents while acknowledging the complexities of human behavior. With its focus on reconciling historical legal traditions with modern psychiatric and philosophical perspectives, the book offers a thoughtful framework for addressing one of criminal law’s most enduring debates.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1972.

Families in Distress: Public, Private, and Civic Responses explores the complex and often contentious interplay between public and private sectors in addressing the needs of children from troubled families. The book critiques the conventional debate over the roles of governmental versus private welfare services, arguing that this dialogue is too simplistic. The author emphasizes the importance of considering individuals as citizens who have rights and responsibilities, rather than just as clients in need of help. By introducing the concept of civic responsibility, the book suggests that helping troubled families should not only be a matter of matching needs to services but also about engaging citizens in a democratic process of addressing social issues. This broadens the debate by proposing that civic participation, in the form of community involvement and oversight, is essential to improving the outcomes of welfare services and ensuring that citizens play a meaningful role in the welfare system.

The author further examines how various organizations, both public and private, have responded to the challenges faced by families, particularly those suffering from poverty, neglect, and abuse. While the expansion of welfare systems and professional services has provided more formalized help, the book argues that these organizations often fail to address the deeper issues of family distress and may even inadvertently reinforce dependency. The analysis includes a critical review of the impact of professional social work, welfare policies, and public services on families, urging a shift towards a more citizen-driven approach. The book calls for a rethinking of how social welfare should operate, advocating for policies that not only address immediate needs but also encourage independence and long-term stability for families in distress. Through this approach, the book provides a thought-provoking examination of the ways in which society can better balance the roles of public institutions, private organizations, and civic participation in responding to family crises.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1988.

How corporate denial harms our world and continues to threaten our future.

Corporations faced with proof that they are hurting people or the planet have a long history of denying evidence, blaming victims, complaining of witch hunts, attacking their critics’ motives, and otherwise rationalizing their harmful activities. Denial campaigns have let corporations continue dangerous practices that cause widespread suffering, death, and environmental destruction. And, by undermining social trust in science and government, corporate denial has made it harder for our democracy to function. 

Barbara Freese, an environmental attorney, confronted corporate denial years ago when cross-examining coal industry witnesses who were disputing the science of climate change. She set out to discover how far from reality corporate denial had led society in the past and what damage it had done. 

Her resulting, deeply-researched book is an epic tour through eight campaigns of denial waged by industries defending the slave trade, radium consumption, unsafe cars, leaded gasoline, ozone-destroying chemicals, tobacco, the investment products that caused the financial crisis, and the fossil fuels destabilizing our climate. Some of the denials are appalling (slave ships are festive). Some are absurd (nicotine is not addictive). Some are dangerously comforting (natural systems prevent ozone depletion). Together they reveal much about the group dynamics of delusion and deception. 

Industrial-Strength Denial delves into the larger social dramas surrounding these denials, including how people outside the industries fought back using evidence and the tools of democracy. It also explores what it is about the corporation itself that reliably promotes such denial, drawing on psychological research into how cognition and morality are altered by tribalism, power, conflict, anonymity, social norms, market ideology, and of course, money. Industrial-Strength Denial warns that the corporate form gives people tremendous power to inadvertently cause harm while making it especially hard for them to recognize and feel responsible for that harm.

The stars have always called us, but only for the past forty years or so have we been able to respond by traveling in space. This book explores the human side of spaceflight: why people are willing to brave danger and hardship to go into space; how human culture has shaped past and present missions; and the effects of space travel on health and well-being. A comprehensive and authoritative treatment of its subject, this book combines statistical studies, rich case histories, and gripping anecdotal detail as it investigates the phenomenon of humans in space—from the earliest spaceflights to the missions of tomorrow.

Drawing from a strong research base in the behavioral sciences, Harrison covers such topics as habitability, crew selection and training, coping with stress, group dynamics, accidents, and more. In addition to taking a close look at spacefarers themselves, Spacefaring reviews the broad organizational and political contexts that shape human progress toward the heavens. With the ongoing construction of the International Space Station, the human journey to the stars continues, and this book will surely help guide the way.

When this best-seller was published, it put the mother-daughter relationship and female psychology on the map. The Reproduction of Mothering was chosen by Contemporary Sociology as one of the ten most influential books of the past twenty-five years. With a new preface by the author, this updated edition is testament to the formative effect that Nancy Chodorow's work continues to exert on psychoanalysis, social science, and the humanities.


When this best-seller was published, it put the mother-daughter relationship and female psychology on the map. The Reproduction of Mothering was chosen by Contemporary Sociology as one of the ten most influential books of the past twenty-fiv

In this book, Dr. John M. Janzen describes patterns of healing among the BaKongo of Lower Zaire in Africa, who, like many peoples elsewhere, utilize cosmopolitan medicine alongside traditional healing practices. What criteria, he asks, determine the choice of the alternative therapies? And what is their institutional interrelationship?

In seeking answers, he analyzes case histories and cultural contexts to explore what social transactions, decisionmaking, illness and therapy classifications, and resource allocations are used in the choice of therapy by the ill, their kinfolk, friends, asociates, and specialized practitioners.

From the Preface:

This book presents an "on the ground" ethnographic account of how medical clients of one region of Lower Zaire diagnose illness, select therapies, and evaluate treatments, a process we call "therapy management." The book is intended to clarify a phenomenon of which central African clients have long been cognizant, namely, that medical systems are used in combination. Our study is aimed primarily at readers interested in the practical issues of medical decision-making in an African country, the cultural content of symptoms, and the dynamics of medical pluralism, that is, the existence in a single society of differently designed and conceived medical systems.


In this book, Dr. John M. Janzen describes patterns of healing among the BaKongo of Lower Zaire in Africa, who, like many peoples elsewhere, utilize cosmopolitan medicine alongside traditional healing practices. What criteria, he asks, determine the choic

Tracing the line of succession from Sigmund Freud, through Melanie Klein to Fairbairn and Winnicott, Judith Hughes demonstrates the internal development of the British school of psychoanalysis and the coherence of its legacy. Both lay reader and professional will find the book illuminating.

Writing with grace, humor, and an expert's eye for revealing detail, Susan Baur illuminates the processes by which hypochondriacs come to adopt and maintain illness as a way of life.

In this book, Dr. John M. Janzen describes patterns of healing among the BaKongo of Lower Zaire in Africa, who, like many peoples elsewhere, utilize cosmopolitan medicine alongside traditional healing practices. What criteria, he asks, determine the choice of the alternative therapies? And what is their institutional interrelationship? In seeking answers, he analyzes case histories and cultural contexts to explore what social transactions, decisionmaking, illness and therapy classifications, and resource allocations are used in the choice of therapy by the ill, their kinfolk, friends, asociates, and specialized practitioners. From the Preface: This book presents an "on the ground" ethnographic account of how medical clients of one region of Lower Zaire diagnose illness, select therapies, and evaluate treatments, a process we call "therapy management." The book is intended to clarify a phenomenon of which central African clients have long been cognizant, namely, that medical systems are used in combination. Our study is aimed primarily at readers interested in the practical issues of medical decision-making in an African country, the cultural content of symptoms, and the dynamics of medical pluralism, that is, the existence in a single society of differently designed and conceived medical systems.

Today a brain scan reveals our thoughts and moods as clearly as an X-ray reveals our bones. We can actually observe a person’s brain registering a joke or experiencing a painful memory. In Mapping the Mind, award-winning journalist Rita Carter draws on the latest imaging technology and science to chart how human behavior and personality reflect the biological mechanisms behind thought and emotion. This acclaimed book, a complete visual guide to the coconut-sized, wrinkled gray mass we carry around inside our heads, has now been completely revised and updated throughout. Among many other topics, Carter explores obsessions and addictions, the differences between men’s and women’s brains, and memory. • Comprehensively updated for this edition with the latest research, case studies, and contributions from distinguished scientists • Addresses recent controversies over behavior prediction and prevention • Includes new information on mirror neurons, unconscious cognition, and abnormalities in attention spans

Symbolic Analysis Cross-Culturally: The Rorschach Test by George A. De Vos and L. Bryce Boyer explores how universal psychobiological processes intersect with the shaping power of culture to produce distinctive modes of perception, thought, and affective regulation. Grounded in the assumption that humans share a common mental apparatus, the authors emphasize how culturally normative child-rearing and socialization practices channelize drives and structure emotional and cognitive development. These differences in early experiences, they argue, manifest symbolically in language, behavior, and interpretive styles, offering scholars a pathway to link psychological universals with cultural variation.

At the heart of the book is a bold methodological claim: the Rorschach test, long established as a projective instrument in clinical settings, can serve as a cross-cultural tool for investigating modalities of thought and affective control. By analyzing verbal responses to inkblot stimuli across societies, De Vos and Boyer demonstrate how projective testing can illuminate cultural patterning in cognition and emotion while remaining anchored in universal psychological processes. Their work positions the Rorschach not simply as a diagnostic device but as a comparative research method, opening possibilities for advances in social psychiatry, psychological anthropology, and developmental psychology. This volume will appeal to scholars seeking to bridge individual psychology and cultural systems through rigorous and innovative analysis.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1989.

Symbolic Analysis Cross-Culturally: The Rorschach Test by George A. De Vos and L. Bryce Boyer explores how universal psychobiological processes intersect with the shaping power of culture to produce distinctive modes of perception, thought, and affective regulation. Grounded in the assumption that humans share a common mental apparatus, the authors emphasize how culturally normative child-rearing and socialization practices channelize drives and structure emotional and cognitive development. These differences in early experiences, they argue, manifest symbolically in language, behavior, and interpretive styles, offering scholars a pathway to link psychological universals with cultural variation.

At the heart of the book is a bold methodological claim: the Rorschach test, long established as a projective instrument in clinical settings, can serve as a cross-cultural tool for investigating modalities of thought and affective control. By analyzing verbal responses to inkblot stimuli across societies, De Vos and Boyer demonstrate how projective testing can illuminate cultural patterning in cognition and emotion while remaining anchored in universal psychological processes. Their work positions the Rorschach not simply as a diagnostic device but as a comparative research method, opening possibilities for advances in social psychiatry, psychological anthropology, and developmental psychology. This volume will appeal to scholars seeking to bridge individual psychology and cultural systems through rigorous and innovative analysis.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1989.

Symbolic Analysis Cross-Culturally: The Rorschach Test by George A. De Vos and L. Bryce Boyer explores how universal psychobiological processes intersect with the shaping power of culture to produce distinctive modes of perception, thought, and affective regulation. Grounded in the assumption that humans share a common mental apparatus, the authors emphasize how culturally normative child-rearing and socialization practices channelize drives and structure emotional and cognitive development. These differences in early experiences, they argue, manifest symbolically in language, behavior, and interpretive styles, offering scholars a pathway to link psychological universals with cultural variation.

At the heart of the book is a bold methodological claim: the Rorschach test, long established as a projective instrument in clinical settings, can serve as a cross-cultural tool for investigating modalities of thought and affective control. By analyzing verbal responses to inkblot stimuli across societies, De Vos and Boyer demonstrate how projective testing can illuminate cultural patterning in cognition and emotion while remaining anchored in universal psychological processes. Their work positions the Rorschach not simply as a diagnostic device but as a comparative research method, opening possibilities for advances in social psychiatry, psychological anthropology, and developmental psychology. This volume will appeal to scholars seeking to bridge individual psychology and cultural systems through rigorous and innovative analysis.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1989.