Life Histories and Psychobiography: Explorations in Theory and Method [Paperback]

William McKinley Runyan (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0195034864 | ISBN-13: 978-0195034868 | Publication Date: April 19, 1984

"The one essential book in the field" In this pathbreaking study, Runyan reviews and responds to major criticism of psychobiography and of the case study method, and suggests criteria for evaluating and improving in-depth studies of individual lives. Theoretical points are vividly illustrated with examples from the lives of (among others) Vincent Van Gogh, Emily Dickinson, Abraham Lincoln, Shakespeare, Malcolm X, Woodrow Wilson, Virginia Woolf, and several of Freud's classic case studies. "The most informative, clear, objective, and comprehensive book written on this topic to date. It is both the ideal text for a graduate course in psycho-history and the one essential book in the field which every library should have."--The Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Clinicians will find this book useful as they attempt to place life histories obtained in an explanatory, help-giving relationship into a scientific context...A reasoned, informative presentation supported by an adequate bibliography."--Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease

"Entertaining as well as illuminating...an extremely valuable gathering of approaches to life history and psychobiography."--Qualitative Sociology

"An outstanding work. In this small volume Runyan makes a clear and compelling case for the importance of idiographic studies to the understanding of human behavior."--New Ideas Psychology

"Runyan's training [in academic psychology] enables him to approach the psychobiography debate with an engaging and informed skepticism. He employs the perspectives and parameters of empirical science to clarify the welter of facts and hypotheses on which assertions in psychobiography are often based."--Journal of Modern History

About the Author

William McKinley Runyan is at University of California, Berkeley.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (April 19, 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195034864
• ISBN-13: 978-0195034868
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,764,353 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

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3.0 out of 5 stars Not for the lay reader, June 19, 2010

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This review is from: Life Histories and Psychobiography: Explorations in Theory and Method (Paperback)

I think this book is not for the lay reader, even one who is interested in psychology and its application to biography and to history. This book is mostly about process and method, about defending the study of biographical material from a psychological viewpoint from the many criticisms from which it suffers. As such it probably has value for an academic in the field. I was hoping for a number of studies of historical individuals, perhaps comparing alternative psychological interpretations for each, but there is little of that in this book. There is also little about using introspection, comparing introspective reports from many people with similar experiences, something I have found very valuable in at least creating hypotheses about behavior which seem very valuable.