Social Psychology

[JazzRemington]

I ahve a class this semester in school on Social Psychology. I read the first chapter of the book, an introduction on the subject and a look at the two main societal organizations: Collectivism and Individualism. It's interesting but, like most psychology and sociology (the class is required for my SOciology major), it's not honest.

It states correctly that the evolution from pre-industrial society to industrial society caused a shift from collectivist beliefs to individualist beliefs in those societies that experienced such an evolution. But it's not honest about what brought about the rise of industrial society: capitalism. This is basically what I've noticed about certain schools of sociology and psychology: it says a lot of stuff about a lot of stuff but explains nothing.

Anyone else feel the same way? What does anyone else ahe to say about Social Psychology?

[Dean]

Read Erich Fromm (http://dean.roushimsx.com/fromm.htm)

I'd suggest "escape from freedom," "man for himself" or "the sane society" for starters.

He's a good guy who was influenced mostly by Marx.

[EDIT] A lot of his work is sociological, as you might imagine, so you can probably get some good resources from his stuff.