psych as science

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I'm doing a reasearch paper on the history of psychology in the late 1800's. I was wondering what did people think of psychology and it being labeled and a science and distancing itself from philosophy. What were the reactions? Did people actually go an seek psychological help then? If so what type of people went to seek help? Any information would be helpful to me reguarding this subject. Thank you for your time. lucie

-- lucie prieto (lucieprieto@msn.com), March 08, 2003

Answers

This is a VERY complex question -- When in the 1800s? Where? Reaction by whom? To what particular development? etc. You should really look at one of the dozens of history of psychology textbooks that are available on the market. Ray Fancher's _Pioneers of Psychology_ is particualrly readable.

"Psychology" was not a "helping" profession in the 19th century, for the most part. It was philosophical discipline, connected with metaphysics, and toward the end of the century people began to increasingly argue that it was an experimental science, connected with physiology. People often went for mental help to physicians and phrenologists, among others. There is also the interesting archaic title, "alienist," for people who treated others' psychiatric (as we would now say) problems. I think they were typically physicians, but I am not certain. The term "clinical psychology" was not invented until the 20th century (by Lightner Witmer) and it was closer to what we would now call educational psychology. "Psychotherapy" came into existence even later.

There were many who were critical of psychology claimingto be a science, both from both the traditional religio-philosophical community and the natural-scientific community. One that I happen to know about can be found on my "Classics in the History of Psychology" website (http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/):
Hume, James Gibson. (1892). Physiological psychology. Minutes of the Twenty-First Annual Convention of the Ontario Teachers' Association, pp. 86-106.

You might also see his later work:
Hume, James Gibson. (1922). Evolution and personality. In Philosophical essays presented to John Watson (pp. 298-330). Kingston, ON: Queen's University.

An interesting, and I think quite typical defense of experimental psychology can also be found at the "Classics" site:
Abbott, Albert H. (1900). Experimental psychology and the laboratory in Toronto. University of Toronto Monthly, 1, 85-98, 106-112.

along with an introduction I've written to put it in some historical context at: http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Abbott/intro.htm

-- Christopher Green (christo@yorku.ca), March 08, 2003.


For the "help" part of the question, the classic history is Gregory Zilboorg's A History of Medical Psychology, which reviews the history of psychiatry and the role of the "alienist"/psychiatrist. Another excellent source for parts of this is Henri Ellenberger's The Discovery of the Unconscious, which has a great deal about hypnotic healers.

-- Hendrika Vande Kemp (hendrika@earthlink.net), March 09, 2003.

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