Winter issue of Revista de Historia de la Psicología

The Winter issue of Revista de Historia de la Psicología is now online. Full titles, authors, and English abstracts follow below:

  1. O. Hobart Mowrer and the scandal of the Missouri “Sex Questionnaire” (1929). (Article written in English)

José María Gondra

O. Hobart Mowrer (1907-1982) was a prominent figure in learning theory in the late 1930s and mid-1940s. After World War II he began practicing psychological counseling with students and his controversial views on psychopathology and religion, along with his criticism of psychoanalysis, had a great impact on the daily press as has recently been pointed out (Page, 2017). Mowrer’s presence in the media, however, did not start at this stage of his career but goes back to the late 1920s, when he was an undergraduate student of psychology at the University of Missouri and circulated a sex questionnaire that caused public uproar in the state of Missouri and the rest of the United States. This article focuses on the questionnaire and the implications of the scandal for Mowrer and the history of psychology. I analyze his appearances in the press during his career, the social and intellectual context at the University of Missouri, the two parallel forms of the questionnaire – male and female. I also examine the impact of this episode on Mowrer’s career and on American psychology and society as evidenced by its widespread press coverage and the report of the American Association of University Professors in defense of freedom of teaching and research.

  1. Imitation and Distinction. History of Two Theoretical Concepts in Social Psychology: The legacy of Simmel, Tarde and Bourdieu. (Article written in English)

Vicente Caballero de la Torre

The Annales Movement underlined the importance of the non-conscious mechanisms which perpetuate social phenomena. Such mechanisms can be understood as the object of microanalysis by multiple social sciences. Concerning Social Psychology, the theoretical concepts of imitation and distinction are found at the same microlevel and have been the object of such a microanalysis by three eminent sociologists. The thought of George Simmel, Gabriel Tarde and Pierre Bourdieu on these topics is exposed in order to show the historical relevance of their contributions concerning these microlevel key-concepts of Social Psychology. As a conclusion, this article aims to provide a rationale for innovative researchers to reflect on the boundaries that separate their discipline from Sociology; the interdisciplinarity required to address theoretical concepts underlying the discipline (such as imitation and distinction); and the relevance of these contemporary classics to understand phenomena that occur in an increasingly networked social world.

  1. Una mujer como cualquier otra. Desarrollos sobre la violencia contra las mujeres en la psicología argentina (1983-1994) [A woman like any other. Developments on violence against women in Argentine psychology (1983-1994)] (Article written in Spanish)

Mariela González Oddera

En el presente trabajo se aborda la tematización que tuvo lugar desde la psicología argentina sobre el tópico de la violencia contra las mujeres durante el período 1983-1994, teniendo en cuenta la categoría de uso prevalente: mujer golpeada. Se reflexiona, asimismo, sobre la modalidad en la que esta tematización se configuró en el ámbito disciplinar, donde hubo un esfuerzo explícito de diferenciación respecto a propuestas teóricas existentes. La perspectiva teórica elegida para dar cuenta de estos objetivos aborda las relaciones entre psicología y orden social e incluye los aportes de la historia reciente. Se reconstruye cómo las teorizaciones psicológicas argentinas se inscribieron en una genealogía feminista de reflexión y recepcionaron fundamentalmente un modelo teóricotécnico de la psicología norteamericana sobre la mujer golpeada. Al mismo tiempo, esta propuesta se diferenció de la semantización y el abordaje extendidos hasta el momento en el país, derivados del marco teórico psicoanalítico.

This paper addresses the thematization that took place in Argentine psychology about violence against women during the period 1983-1994, taking into account the prevailing category used: battered woman. This paper also ponders the modality in which this thematization was configured in the disciplinary field, where there was an explicit effort to differentiate the new proposal from existing theorizations. The theoretical perspective chosen addresses the relationships between psychology and social order and includes contributions from recent history. It is reconstructed how psychological theorizations were inscribed in a feminist genealogy and had received a theoretical-technical model of the American psychology on battered women. At the same time, this proposal differed from the semantization and the approach extended in our country, derived from the psychoanalytic theoretical framework.

  1. Enrique Pichon Rivière y la recepción del psicoanálisis lacaniano en Argentina [Enrique Pichon Rivière and the reception of lacanian psychoanalysis in Argentina] (Article written in Spanish)

Jesuán Agrazar, Julieta De Battista y Luis Sanfelippo

El presente artículo interroga el papel que Enrique Pichon Rivière pudo haber tenido en la recepción de las ideas de Lacan en Argentina. Se parte, someramente, de la historia mayormente conocida al respecto, la que se centra en la figura de Oscar Masotta, para dirigirse luego a las convergencias y divergencias que podrían encontrarse entre Pichon y Lacan, de modo particular en lo tocante a la clínica de las psicosis. Si bien la política y el surrealismo de Pichon pudieron colaborar en la recepción de Lacan en el país, algunos elementos de su clínica operaron quizás como terreno fértil sobre el que se apoyara una recepción de conceptos como el Otro, lo real, el objeto, alienación y separación de Lacan. La metodología empleada toma elementos de la historia crítica y se basa fundamentalmente en la consulta de fuentes primarias y secundarias escritas.

This article questions the role that Enrique Pichon Rivière may have had in the reception of Lacan’s ideas in Argentina. It begins with the most well-known story in this regard, which focuses on the figure of Oscar Masotta, to then address the convergences and divergences that could be found between Pichon and Lacan, particularly with regard to the clinic of psychosis. Although Pichon’s politics and surrealism could collaborate in Lacan’s reception in the country, some elements of his clinic perhaps operated as fertile ground on which to support a reception of concepts such as the Other, the real, the object, alienation and separation from Lacan. The methodology used takes elements from critical history and is fundamentally based on consulting primary and secondary written sources.

  1. In Memoriam Víctor García-Hoz Rosales. (Article written in Spanish)

Javier Bandrés

Víctor García-Hoz Rosales, profesor jubilado de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid falleció el domingo 14 de noviembre de este año 2021. Ofrecemos dos obituarios firmados por Juan José Aparicio y Ricardo Pellón y una selección de imágenes de Víctor en cursos y reuniones científicas. Luis Aguado, catedrático de la Universidad Complutense, escribía hace poco: “Con sus conocimientos, su entusiasmo y su actitud personal, Víctor tuvo sobre mí un fuerte impacto. Despertó mi curiosidad por la investigación y por una explicación de la conducta que en aquel momento resultaba casi revolucionaria. Además, su compromiso social y su especial forma de ser contribuyeron a que Victor fuese para mi una de mis mayores influencias como estudiante y futuro psicólogo”. Probablemente muchos profesores españoles que ocupan actualmente posiciones académicas distinguidas se sentirán identificados en las palabras del profesor Aguado.

Víctor García-Hoz Rosales, retired professor at the Complutense University of Madrid, passed away in Madrid on Sunday, November 14, 2021. We offer two obituaries by professors Juan José Aparicio and Ricardo Pellón and a selection of images of Víctor on the occasion of courses and meetings. Luis Aguado, a professor at the Complutense University, recently wrote: “With his knowledge, his enthusiasm and his personal attitude, Víctor had a strong impact on me. It piqued my curiosity for research and for an explanation of behavior that at the time was almost revolutionary. In addition, his social commitment and his special way of being contributed to Víctor being one of my greatest influences as a student and future psychologist”. Probably many Spanish professors who currently occupy relevant academic positions will identify themselves with the comments of Professor Aguado.

About Jacy Young

Jacy Young is a professor at Quest University Canada. A critical feminist psychologist and historian of psychology, she is committed to critical pedagogy and public engagement with feminist psychology and the history of the discipline.