Psychology
The “objective-behavioral” environment of Isidor Chein: In Memory of a Humanistic Scientist
Document Type
Article
Abstract
Isidor Chein was committed to the development of a unified science of human behavior. His observations of behavior led him to stress the importance of two somewhat paradoxical facts: (1) that persons were active agents whose behavior was directed at the perceived environment and (2) that all behavior had to be understood in the context of the objective environment. This article discusses why Chein chose to stress the objective environment and how he managed to describe objective environmental forces in a way that still allowed for the personal freedom and responsibility of active agents. It shows how his conception of an “objective-behavioral” environment accounts for the tremendous impact of the environment on contranormative behavior yet does not excuse delinquents, or us, from responsibility for that behavior. © 1986, SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC. All rights reserved.
Publication Title
Environment and Behavior
Publication Date
1986
Volume
18
Issue
1
First Page
95
Last Page
108
ISSN
0013-9165
DOI
10.1177/0013916586181005
Keywords
Isidor Chein
Repository Citation
de Rivera, Joseph, "The “objective-behavioral” environment of Isidor Chein: In Memory of a Humanistic Scientist" (1986). Psychology. 876.
https://commons.clarku.edu/faculty_psychology/876