BERNARD, JESSIE. American Family Be havior. Pp. xviii, 564. New York: Harper Brothers, 1942. $3.50

• Published date: 01 May 1942
• Date: 01 May 1942
• DOI: 10.1177/000271624222100173
• Author: Clifford Kirkpatrick
• Subject Matter: Articles

231

sociologists

may

register

more

exactly

their

observations

and

conclusions.

The

general

formula

states

that

a

social

situation

is

represented

by

a

combination

of

four

indices

expressing

the

relations

of

a

number

of

people

with

given

characteristics

varying

in

time

and

space.

Exponents

and

&dquo;scripts&dquo;

indicate

their

modified

use;

signs

for

mathematical

operations

and

logical

ar-

rangement

are

added.

There

is

also

a

nu-

merical

code

for

these

terms.

A

tension

theory,

showing

the

ratio

of

satisfaction

to

desire,

is

thrown

in

for

good

measure.

The

author

demonstrates

the

use

of

his

scheme

by

applying

it

to

more

than

three

hundred

cases,

and

subjoins

many

explanatory

notes.

He

concludes

by

recommending

its

adoption

as

a

concise,

accurate,

and

comprehensive

method

for

classifying

and

developing

quan-

titative

studies

of

society.

In

the

face

of

Dodd’s

enterprise

and

in-

dustry,

hasty

criticism

would

be

imperti-

nent.

However,

the

author

himself

suggests

some

points

for

consideration.

For

in-

stance,

will

many

scholars

exert

themselves

to

master

a

new

code

of

symbolic

logic

in

order

to

plow

through

nine

hundred

pages

of

descriptive

text?

For

some,

the

lan-

guage

of

mathematics

is

sufficient

to

indi-

cate

procedure.

Others

are

not

convinced

that

quantification

of

social

traits

is

pos-

sible

or

desirable.

Perhaps

a

brief

hand-

book

presenting

typical

problems

and

solu-

tions

might

be

more

useful

for

students,

and

offer

a

definite

basis

for

trial

by

investi-

gators.

A

general

treatise

on

methodology

.is

likely

to

raise

many

questions

that

cannot

be

settled

at

once.

All

scholars

do

not

agree

that

commonly

accepted

notions

of

physical

space,

time,

and

mass

are

adequate

for

an

explanation

of

society;

that

enumeration

of

individual

characteristics

accounts

for

the

organization

of

groups;

that

a

mechanical

combination

of

factors

represents

the

unity

of

institu-

tions ;

that

elementary

mathematics

is

a

tool

fine

enough

for

the

analysis

of

culture.

In

short,

certain

assumptions

underlie

Dodd’s

notation

which

require

more

than

acquaint-

ance

with

modern

scientific

methods

to

prove.

We

might

compare

this

system

to

plans

for

renovating

a

museum.

Many

old

items

will

be

stored

in

the

basement;

space

will

be

available

for

new

exhibits;

the

catalogue

lists

some

forms

not

yet

obtained.

The

main

task

is

to

find

the

missing

numbers.

But

few

investigators

know

how

to

search

for

them.

With

luck,

persistent

digging

occasionally

turns

up

a

treasure;

rare

flashes

of

insight

may

disclose

hidden

gems.

But

scientists

usually

prefer

to

trace

their

quarry

more

methodically.

Pro-

fessor

Dodd’s

field

chart

is

wide

in

scope

and

spotted

with

helpful

marks.

It

does

not

claim

to

be

a

guide

for

discovering

the

unknown.

HOWARD

WOOLSTON

University

of

Washington

BERNARD,

JESSIE.

American

Family

Be-

havior.

Pp.

xviii,

564.

New

York:

Harper

Brothers,

1942.

$3.50.

This

book

is

an

outstanding

contribution

to

the

rapidly

growing

literature

concerned

with

family

life.

It

is

not

a

conventional,

comprehensive

textbook

including

discus-

sions

of

historical

backgrounds

and

the

vari-

ous

family

problems.

The

approach

is

rather

that

of

applied

social

psychology,

with

stress

on

recent

sociometric

findings,

broadly

viewed.

Yet

so

rich

is

the

content

of

the

book

and

so

thorough

its

scholarship

that

there

is

little

of

the

more

conventional

material

which

does

not

find

some

mention

in

the

volume.

It

unquestionably

can

and

will

be

widely

used

as

a

text

in

family

courses.

The

conceptual

core

of

the

book

is

the

Cooley

view

that

primary

interactions

func-

tion

within

institutional

frameworks.

The

inspirational

sources

of

a

distinctly

original

work,

in

addition

to

Cooley’s

writings,

are

those

of

L.

L.

Bernard,

Chapin,

Ogburn,

Floyd

Allport,

and

various

psychoanalysts.

There

is

a

healthy

awareness

that

values

are

better

dealt

with

by

facing

them

fairly

than

by

escaping

to

a

realm

of

alleged

objec-

tivity.

The

entire

first

part

of

the

book,

for

example,

consists

of

checking

by

exten-

sive

quantitative

material

the

degree

to

which

certain

functions

of

the

family

are

successfully

accomplished.

The

book

con-

tains

likewise

extremely

valuable

discussions

of

conformity,

social

control,

dominance,

subordination,

and

adjustive

personality

in-

teractions.

An

ingenious

attempt

is

made

at SAGE PUBLICATIONS on December 4, 2012ann.sagepub.comDownloaded from