Biographical and Theoretical Notes

Note: On Prof. Sarbin's death, his family and colleagues issued a set of obituary notes that provide a good overview of his personal and professional life. These notes along with notice of other published obituaries are available online here.

Theodore Roy (Ted) Sarbin was professor emeritus of psychology and criminology at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He was born in 1911 and raised in Cleveland, OH. Completing high school at night, Sarbin held several odd jobs in the early Depression years and did not begin undergraduate studies at the Ohio State University until 1934 when he was 23. He graduated cum laude two years later and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He received a master's degree in psychology from Case Western Reserve University in 1937 and completed his doctoral work at Ohio State in 1941. Meanwhile he held various positions at the University of Minnesota (1938-1941) doing student personnel and clinical psychological work. At a talk given by Prof. Norman Cameron (University of Wisconsin) for the student honor society, Psi Chi, at Minnesota in either 1939 or 1940, Sarbin first encountered the notion of role-taking which was to influence much of his later work. Indeed, Sarbin's first published reflections upon role taking came soon thereafter as he explored how roles are closely tied to notions of the self (see Sarbin, 1943). From 1941 to 1943 he completed a Social Science Research Council post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Chicago where he was sponsored by the eminent professor of urban sociology, Ernest Burgess. The work and thoughts of University of Chicago social theorist, George Herbert Mead, who had died in 1931, acted as a continuing influence on Sarbin as it had on others. During this fellowship, he attended seminars at the Chicago Institute of Psychoanalysis and gained wider clinical experience as a visiting faculty member at several psychiatric hospitals in the Chicago area. In this period, he made a one-week visit to Beacon Hill Sanitarium, the private hospital in New York State where Jacob L. Moreno, the founding theorist of psychodrama, employed his methods and trained other therapists.

After completing a post-doctoral fellowship at U Chicago, Sarbin worked briefly at the Lincoln State School for the Mentally Retarded in a clinical supervisory role. He established a private clinical practice in Chicago and taught some classes at Northwestern University's night school. However, Sarbin and his family relocated to Southern California (Los Angeles) in late 1944 or early 1945. In addition to setting up a clinical practice in Los Angeles, Sarbin also began teaching part-time at Long Beach City College. In 1947 he accepted a part-time clinical appointment at the Veterans Administration clinic in Los Angeles until moving to the Bay area in 1949.

Sarbin joined the psychology faculty at the University of California at Berkeley in 1949 as a lecturer in clinical psychology. He remained at Berkeley for two decades. Subsequently, he moved to the newly opened campus of the University of California at Santa Cruz (UCSC) in the 1969 where he was Professor of Psychology and Criminology. Though he attained "emeritus" status at UCSC in 1976, he continued teaching on a part-time basis for the next twelve years.

The phenomenon of hypnotism--its nature and clinical use--was a very early interest of Sarbin's and remained one for his entire career. His first published paper (Friedlander & Sarbin, 1938) examined the depth of the hypnotic state. Influenced by his work on clinical hypnotism and its relation to the assumption of the hypnotic role, Sarbin fashioned an expanded social psychological theory of role taking which appeared in his pivotal 1954 article in the Handbook of Socal Psychology (Lindzey, 1954).

Sarbin's interest in narrative stemmed from the work he had done previously on role theory and the ways in which humans adapt dramaturgical stances in their everyday lives. Very early in his teaching career at Berkeley, Sarbin had used narrative case studies extensively as he introduced his students to abnormal and clinical psychology. In his first year at Santa Cruz, he became personally acquainted with retired Berkeley philosopher, Stephen C. Pepper (1891-1972), who had published the influential volume, World Hypotheses, in 1942. In this work, Pepper argued that humans deploy fundamental metaphorical strategies ("root metaphors") by which to interpret their experiences of the world. He isolated four such root metaphors which he labeled "formism, mechanism, contextualism, and organicism". Sarbin would later note: "Eventually I tied contextualism and the narrative together and saw that the root metaphor for contextualism is the historic act in all its complexity. My chapter in the book, Narrative Psychology, showed that the narrative could equally represent contextualism. It has all of the same features as the historical act. The only difference is that narratives are told as well as lived while historical acts, of course, are narrated by historians" (Hevern, 1999). His famous essay on narrative as a root metaphor (Sarbin, 1986) grew out of discussions initiated at the Center for the Humanities at Wesleyan University in 1979. There he was exposed to or entered into discussions with figures like Louis Mink, Steven Crites, and others for whom narrative was a central topic of concern. Sarbin offered his thoughts about narrative as a root metaphor for psychology publicly at a symposium at the 1983 APA Convention in Anaheim, CA in a session chaired by Brian Sutton-Smith.

After retiring from UC Santa Cruz faculty, Sarbin continued to publish extensively as well as to teach, primarily at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA. In 1988 he was the author of a controversial study--the "PERSEREC" Report with Kenneth Karols (Sarbin & Karols, 1988), which challenged the Department of Defense's policy of excluding homosexuals from the military. He continued to work at the Defense Personnel Security Research Center (PERSEREC) until shortly before his death on August 31, 2005

Sarbin was legendary for his dedication to his many former graduate students and colleagues with whom he continued to write and carry out research and other projects at a steady pace until his death. Of course, few scholars -- psychologists or otherwise -- have been publishing continuously to such acclaim across seven decades.

In the summer of 2005, Sarbin was diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer. Despite this, he came to the American Psychological Association meeting in Washington, DC during August 18-21 in order to have a chance to meet with his professional colleagues and friends for a last time. He did so at several venues including a dinner at which he introduced about 65 other guests individually, presented the first Theodore R. Sarbin Award for Narrative Psychology to Jefferson Singer (Connecticut College) on behalf of Division 24 (Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology) of APA, and made two final awards of his "Role Theorist of the Year" to Hank Stam (U Calgary) and Robert Elliott (U Toledo). On the following day, he sat through a two-hour symposium on "Narrative Psychology: State of the Art" with a group of some of the most important psychologists in the field (Dan McAdams, Michael Bamberg, Ruthellen Josselson, Mary and Ken Gergen) with about 300-350 attending and offered a 4 1/2 minute discussion at the end, only shortened because his voice gave out. At his death, Ted was 94 years old, had been an active and productive psychologist from 1937 until 10 days previous, and left behind an immense number of people who loved him dearly for his professional contributions, utter decency, kind care, and warm friendship.

He received the Henry A. Murray Award in 1994 from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. In 1999 he was the recipient of the Award for Distinguished Theoretical and Philosophical Contributions to Psychology by Division 24 of the American Psychological Association. In August 2005, that same division instituted an annual award in his name.

 

Taken at the 2005 APA Meeting in Washington, DC: Ken Gergen, Ruthellen Josselson, Sarbin, Michael Bamberg, Mary Gergen, Donald Polkinghorne, and Dan McAdams. (Photo: © Vincent Hevern)

Biographical References: Hevern (1999); Sarbin (1994); Sarbin (personal communication, October, 1998; personal communication, April, 2004); Sheehy, Chapman & Conroy (1997).

Internet Resources

		Bibliographical: Author's Works
		I. II. III. IV. V.	Journal Articles  Book Chapters  Books (Authored)  Books (Edited)  Other Works

I. Articles

1930s-1940s

Friedlander, J. W., & Sarbin, T. R. (1938). The depth of hypnosis. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 33, 453-475.

Johnson, D. G., & Sarbin, T. R. (1940). Work performance in N. Y. A. students. Occupations, 19, 36-38.

Lewis, J. H., & Sarbin, T. R. (1943). Studies in psychosomatics. I. The influence of hypnotic stimulation on gastric hunger contractions. Psychosomatic Medicine, 5, 125-131.

Sarbin, T. R. (1939). Rorschach patterns under hypnosis. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 9, 315-318.

Sarbin, T. R. (1940). Adjustment in psychology. Character & Personality: A Quarterly for Psychodiagostic & Allied Studies, 8, 240-249.

Sarbin, T. R. (1940). The case record in psychological counseling. Journal of Applied Psychology, 24, 184-197.

Sarbin, T. R. (1941). Art or science in clinical psychology. Psychological Bulletin, 38, 521-522.

Sarbin, T. R. (1941). Clinical psychology--art or science. Psychometrika, 6, 391-399.

Sarbin, T. R. (1941). The relative accuracy of clinical and statistical predictions of academic achievement. Psychological Bulletin, 38, 714.

Sarbin, T. R. (1943). A contribution to the study of actuarial and individual methods of prediction. American Journal of Sociology, 48, 593-602.

Sarbin, T. R. (1943). The concept of role-taking. Sociometry, 6, 273-284.

Sarbin, T. R. (1944). The logic of prediction in psychology. Psychological Review, 51, 210-228.

Sarbin, T. R. (1946). Mental age changes in hypnotic age regression. American Psychologist, 1, 456-457.

Sarbin, T. R., & Berdie, R. F. (1940). Relations of measured interests to the Allport-Vernon study of values. Journal of Applied Psychology, 24, 287-296.

Sarbin, T. R., & Bordin, E. S. (1941). New criteria for old. Educational & Psychological Measurement, 1, 173-186.

1950s

Baker, B. O., & Sarbin, T. R. (1956). Differential mediation of social perception as a correlate of social adjustment. Sociometry, 19, 69-83.

Farberow, N. L., & Sarbin, T. R. (1950). A clinical study of role and self in hypnotic age regression. American Psychologist, 5, 305.

Jones, D. S., Livson, N. H., & Sarbin, T. R. (1955). Perceptual completion behavior in juvenile delinquents. Perceptual & Motor Skills, 5, 141-146.

Matthews, R., Hardyck, C., & Sarbin, T. R. (1953). Self-organization as a factor in the performance of selected cognitive tasks. Journal of Abnormal & Social Psychology, 48, 500-502.

Sarbin, T. R. (1950). Contributions to role-taking theory: I. Hypnotic behavior. Psychological Review, 57, 255-270.

Sarbin, T. R. (1950). Mental age changes in experimental regression. Journal of Personality, 19, 221-228.

Sarbin, T. R. (1952). A preface to a psychological analysis of the self. Psychological Review, 59, 11-22.

Sarbin, T. R., & Baker, B. O. (1957). Psychological predisposition and/or subcultural participation: Reply to Dr. Glaser. Sociometry, 20, 161-164.

Sarbin, T. R., & Farberow, N. L. (1952). Contributions to roletaking theory: a clinical study of self and role. Journal of Abnormal & Social Psychology, 47, 117-125.

Sarbin, T. R., & Hardyck, C. D. (1955). Conformance in role perception as a personality variable. Journal of Consulting Psychology, 19, 109-111.

Sarbin, T. R., & Jones, D. S. (1955). An experimental analysis of role behavior. Journal of Abnormal & Social Psychology, 51, 236-241.

Sarbin, T. R., & Jones, D. S. (1955). Intra-personal factors in delinquency: A preliminary report. Nervous Child, 11, 23-27.

Sarbin, T. R., & Jones, D. S. (1955). The assessment of role-expectations in the selection of supervisory personnel. Educational & Psychological Measurement, 15, 236-239.

Sarbin, T. R., & Rosenberg, B. G. (1955). Contributions to role-taking theory: IV. A method for obtaining a qualitative estimate of the self. Journal of Social Psychology, 42, 71-81.

1960s

Anderson, M. L., & Sarbin, T. R. (1964). Base rate expectancies and motoric alterations in hypnosis. International Journal of Clinical & Experimental Hypnosis, 12, 147-158.

Chun, K-T., & Sarbin, T. R. (1968). Methodological artifacts in subception research. Psychological Record, 18, 137-149.

Coe, W. C., & Sarbin, T. R. (1966). An experimental demonstration of hypnosis as role enactment. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 71, 400-406

Craik, K. H., & Sarbin, T. R. (1963). Effect of covert alterations of clock rate upon time estimations and personal tempo. Perceptual & Motor Skills, 16, 597-610.

Juhasz, J. B., & Sarbin, T. R. (1966). On the false alarm metaphor in psychophysics. Psychological Record, 16, 323-327.

Kulik, J. A., Stein, K. B., & Sarbin, T. R. (1968). Dimensions and patterns of adolescent antisocial behavior. Journal of Consulting & Clinical Psychology, 32(4), 375-382.

Kulik, J. A., Stein, K. B., & Sarbin, T. R. (1968). Disclosure of delinquent behavior under conditions of anonymity and nonanonymity. Journal of Consulting & Clinical Psychology, 32(5, Pt. 1), 506-509.

Sarbin, T. R. (1962). A new model of the behavior disorders. Gawein, 10, 324-341.

Sarbin, T. R. (1962). The present status of the clinical-statistical prediction problem. Gawein, 10, 315-323.

Sarbin, T. R. (1964). Anxiety: The reification of a metaphor. Archives of General Psychiatry, 10, 630-638.

Sarbin, T. R. (1967). On the futility of the proposition that some people be labeled "mentally ill." Journal of Consulting Psychology, 31, 446-453.

Sarbin, T. R. (1968). Ontology recapitulates philology: The mythic nature of anxiety. American Psychologist, 23, 411-428.

Sarbin, T. R. (1969). On the distinction between social roles and social types, with special reference to the hippie. American Journal of Psychiatry, 125(8), 1024-1031.

Sarbin, T. R. (1969). On Zoellnerism: Notes on extending the talk-write metaphor. College English, 30, 645-648.

Sarbin, T. R., & Allen, V. L. (1964). Role enactment, audience feedback, and attitude change. Sociometry, 27, 182-193.

Sarbin, T. R., & Allen, V. L. (1968). Increasing participation in a natural group setting: A preliminary report. Psychological Record, 18, 1-7.

Sarbin, T. R., Allen, V. L., & Rutherford, E. E. (1965). Social reinforcement, socialization, and chronic delinquency. British Journal of Social & Clinical Psychology, 4, 179-184.

Sarbin, T. R., & Andersen, M. L. (1963). Base-rate expectancies and perceptual alterations in hypnosis. British Journal of Social & Clinical Psychology, 2, 112-121.

Sarbin, T. R., & Chun, K-T. (1967). A logical flaw in an index to suppress response-bias in perceptual defence measures and the application of a proposed improvement. Australian Journal of Psychology, 19, 151-158.

Sarbin, T. R., & Juhasz, J. B. (1967). The historical background of the concept of hallucination. Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences, 3, 339-358.

Sarbin, T. R., & Kroger, R. O. (1963). On Wundt's theory of hypnosis. International Journal of Clinical & Experimental Hypnosis, 11, 245-259.

Sarbin, T. R., & Quenk, A. (1964). The rationality of nonsense: Intensity of meaning of non-referential verbal units. Psychological Record, 14, 401-410.

Sarbin, T. R., & Wenk, E. A. (1969). Revolution of binocular rivalry as a means of identifying violence-prone offenders. Journal of Criminal law, Criminology & Police Science, 60(3), 345-350.

Scheibe, K. E., & Sarbin, T. R. (1965). Towards a theoretical conceptualization of superstition. British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 62, 143-158.

Stein, K. G., Gough, H. G., & Sarbin, T. R. (1966). The dimensionality of the CPI socialization scale and an empirically derived typology among delinquent and nondelinquent boys. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 1, 197-208.

Stein, K. B., Sarbin, T. R., & Kulik, J. A. (1968). Future time perspective: Its relation to the socialization process and the delinquent role. Journal of Consulting & Clinical Psychology, 32, 257-264.

1970s

Chun, K-T., & Sarbin, T. R. (1970). An empirical study of metaphor to myth transformation. Philosophical Psychologist, 4, 16-20.

Sarbin, T. R., & Adler, N. (1971). Self-reconstitutive processes: A preliminary report. Psychoanalytic Review, 57, 599-616.

Sarbin, T. R., & Mancuso, J. C. (1970). Failure of a moral enterprise: Attitudes of the public toward mental illness. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 35, 149-173.

Sarbin, T. R., & Coe, W. C. (1979). Hypnosis and psychopathology: On replacing old myths with fresh metaphors. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 88, 506-526.

Sarbin, T. R., & Juhasz, J. B. (1970). Toward a theory of imagination. Journal of Personality, 38, 52-76.

Sarbin, T. R., & Juhasz, J. B. (1978). The social psychology of hallucinations. Journal of Mental Imagery, 2, 117-144.

1980s

Sarbin, T. R. (1983). Place identity as a component of self: An addendum. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 3, 337-342.

Sarbin, T. R. (1984). Nonvolition in hypnosis: A semiotic analysis. Psychological Record, 345, 537-549.

Sarbin, T. R. (1986). Prediction and clinical inference: Forty years later. Journal of Personality Assessment, 50, 362-369.

1990s

Lilienfeld, S. O, Kirsch, I., Sarbin, T. R., Lynn, S. J., Chaves, J. F., Ganaway, G. K., & Powell, R. A. (1999). Dissociative identity disorder and the sociocognitive model: Recalling the lessons of the past. Psychological Bulletin, 125, 507-523.

Sarbin, T. R. (1990). Toward the obsolescence of the schizophrenia hypothesis. Journal of Mind & Behavior, 11(3-4), 259-283.

Sarbin, T. R. (1990). The narrative quality of action. Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology, 10, 49-65.

Sarbin, T. R. (1991). Hypnosis: A fifty year perspective. Contemporary Hypnosis, 8, 1-15.

Sarbin, T. R. (1993). Whither hypnosis? A rhetorical analysis. Contemporary Hypnosis, 10, 1-9.

Sarbin, T. R. (1994). Dissociation: State, trait, or skill? Contemporary hypnosis, 11, 47-54.

Sarbin, T. R. (1995). A narrative approach to "repressed memories." Journal of Narrative & Life History, 5, 41-66.

Sarbin, T. R. (1995). Emotional life, rhetoric, and roles. Journal of Narrative & Life History, 5, 213-220.

Sarbin, T. R. (1995). On the belief that one body may be host to two or more personalities. International Journal of Clinical & Experimental Hypnosis, 43, 163-183.

Sarbin, T. R. (1997). Hypnosis as a conversation: 'Believed-in imaginings' revisited. Contemporary Hypnosis, 14, 203-215.

Sarbin, T. R. (1997). On the futility of psychiatric diagnostic manuals (DSMs) and the return of personal agency. Applied & Preventive Psychology, 6, 233-243.

Sarbin, T. R. (1997). The poetics of identity. Theory & Psychology, 7, 67-82.

Sarbin, T. R. (1997). The power of believed-in imaginings. Psychological Inquiry, 8, 322-325.

Sarbin, T. R. (1998). The social construction of truth. Journal of Theoretical & Philosophical Psychology, 18, 144-150.

2000s

Sarbin, T. R. (2000). Worldmaking, self and identity. Culture & Psychology, 6, 253-258.

Sarbin, T. R. (2001). Embodiment and the narrative structure of emotional life. Narrative Inquiry, 11, 217-225.

Sarbin, T. R. (2002). Dialogical components in theory-building: Contributions of Hilgard, Orne and Spanos. Contemporary Hypnosis, 19(4), 190-197.

Sarbin, T. R. (2003). The metaphor-to-myth transformation with special reference to the "War onTerrorism." Peace & Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 9(2), 149-157.

 

II. Book Chapters

Coe, W. C., & Sarbin, T. R. (1993). Role theory: Hypnosis from a dramaturgical and narrational perspective. In S. J. Lynn, & J. W. Rhue (Eds.), Theories of hypnosis: Current models and perspectives (pp. 303-323). New York: Guilford Press.

Johnstone, E. C., & Sarbin, T. R. (1998). Is schizophrenia a disease? In S. Nolen-Hoeksema (Ed,), Clashing views on abnormal psychology: A Taking Sides custom reader (pp. 84-105). Guilford, CT:: Dushkin/Mcgraw-Hill.

Mancuso, J. C., Yelich, G. A., & Sarbin, T. R. (2002). The poetic construction of AD/HD: A diagnostic fable. In R. A. Neimeyer, & G. J. Neimeyer (Eds.), Advances in personal construct psychology: New directions and perspectives (pp. 233-257). Westport, CT: Praeger/Greenwood Publishing.

Sarbin, T. R. (1954). Role theory. In G. Lindzey (Ed.), Handbook of social psychology. Vol. I. Theory and method (pp. 223-258). Cambridge, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company.

Sarbin, T. R. (1977). Contextualism: A world view for modern psychology. In A. W. Lanfield (Ed.), 1976 Nebraska symposium on motivation (pp. 1-41). Lincoln: NE: University of Nebraska Press.

Sarbin, T. R. (1986). The narrative as root metaphor for psychology. In T. R. Sarbin (Ed.), Narrative psychology: The storied nature of human conduct (pp. 3-21). New York: Praeger.

Sarbin, T. R. (1989). Emotions as narrative emplotments. In M. J. Packer, & R. B. Addison (Eds.), Entering the circle: Hermeneutic investigations in psychology (pp. 185-201). Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.

Sarbin, T. R. (1989). Emotions as situated actions. In L. Cirillo, B. Kaplan, & S. Wapner (Eds.), Emotions in ideal human development (pp. 77-99). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

Sarbin, T. R. (1989). The construction and reconstruction of hypnosis. In N. P. Spanos, & J. F. Chaves (Eds.), Hypnosis: The cognitive-behavioral perspective (pp. 400-416). Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books.

Sarbin, T. R. (1990). Metaphors of unwanted conduct: A historical sketch. In D. W. Leary (Ed), Metaphors in the history of psychology (pp. 300-330). New York: Cambridge University Press.

Sarbin, T. R. (1993). The narrative as the root metaphor for contextualism. In S. C. Hayes, L. J. Hayes, H. W. Reese, & T. R. Sarbin (Eds.), Varieties of scientific contextualism (pp. 51-65). Reno, NV: Context Press.

Sarbin, T. R. (1994). A criminological approach to security violations. In T. R. Sarbin, R. M. Carney, & C. Eoyang (Eds.), Citizen espionage: Studies in trust and betrayal (pp. 107-125). Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers/Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc.

Sarbin, T. R. (1994). Steps to the narratory principle: An autobiographical essay. In D. J. Lee (Ed.), Life and story: Autobiographies for a narrative psychology (pp. 7-38). Westport, CT: Praeger.

This is the primary autobiographical statement by Sarbin which was reedited for inclusion in Lee's text after an initial presentation at the Western Psychological Association convention in April, 1991 under the title "Narrative Psychology: A Personal History."

Sarbin, T. R. (1996). The deconstruction of stereotypes: Homosexuals and military policy. In G. M. Herek, J. B. Jobe, & R. M. Carney (Eds.), Out in force: Sexual orientation and the military (Worlds of desire) (pp. 177-196). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

Sarbin, T. R. (1999). Whither hypnosis? A rhetorical analysis. In I. Kirsch, A. Capafons, E. Cardena-Buelna, & S. A. Borras (Eds.), Clinical hypnosis and self-regulation: Cognitive-behavioral perspectives (pp. 105-116). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Sarbin, T. R. (2003). The dramaturgical approach to social psychology: The influence of Erving Goffman. In R. J. Sternberg (Ed.), The anatomy of impact: What makes the great works of psychology great (pp. 125-136). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Sarbin, T. R. (2005). The poetics of my identities. In G. Yancy, & S. Hadley (Eds.), Narrative identities: Psychologists engaged in self-construction (pp. 13-35). Philadelphia, PA: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Sarbin, T. R., & Allen, V. L. (1968). Role theory. In G. Lindzey & E. Aronson (Eds.), Handbook of social psychology (Vol. I, pp. 488-567). Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.

Sarbin, T. R., & Keen, E. (2001). Classifying mental disorders: Nontraditional approaches. In H. S. Friedman (Ed.), Assessment & therapy: Specialty articles from the encyclopedia of mental health. San Diego, CA.

Sarbin, T. R., & Keen, E. (2001). Classifying mental disorders: Nontraditional approaches. In H. S. Friedman (Ed.), The disorders: Specialty articles from the encyclopedia of mental health. San Diego, CA.

III. Books (Authored)

Coe, W. C., & Sarbin, T. R. (1984). Mastering psychology: Study habits, examination skills, locating resources, preparing term papers. Springfield, IL: C. C. Thomas.

Sarbin, T. R., & Coe, W. C. (1969). The student psychologist's handbook: A guide to sources. Cambridge, MA: Schenkman Publishing Co. (Harper & Row, Distributor).

Sarbin, T. R., & Coe, W. C. (1972). Hypnotism: The social psychology of influence communication. New York: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston.

Sarbin, T. R., & Mancuso, J. C. (1980). Schizophrenia: Medical diagnosis or moral verdict? New York: Praeger.

Sarbin, T. R., Taft, R., & Bailey, D. (1960). Clinical inference and cognitive theory. New York: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston.

Williamson, E. G., & Sarbin, T. R. (1940). Student personnel work at the University of Minnesota. Minneapolis, MN: Burgess.

IV. Books (Edited)

De Rivera, J., & Sarbin, T. R. (Eds.). (1998). Believed-in imaginings: The narrative construction of reality. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Hayes, S. C., Hayes, L. J., Reese, H. W., & Sarbin, T. R. (Eds.). (1993). Varieties of scientific contextualism. Reno, NV: Context Press.

Pellegrini, R. J., & Sarbin, T. R. (2002). Between fathers and sons: Critical incident narratives in the development of men's lives. Binghamton, NY: Haworth Clinical Practice Press.

Sarbin, T. R. (Ed). (1961). Studies in behavior pathology: The experimental approach to the psychology of the abnormal. New York: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston.

Sarbin, T. R. (Ed.). (1979). Challenges to the criminal justice system: The perspectives of community psychology. New York: Human Sciences Press.

Sarbin, T. R., Carney, R. M., & Eoyang, C. (Eds.). (1994). Citizen espionage: Studies in trust and betrayal. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers/Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc.

Sarbin, T. R., & Coe, W. C. (1969). The student psychologist'st handbook: A guide to sources. Cambridge, MA: Schenkman Publishing Co.

Sarbin, T. R., & Kituse, J. I. (Eds.). (1993). Constructing the social. London. Sage Publishers.

Sarbin, T. R., & Scheibe, K. E. (Eds.). (1983). Studies in social identity. New York: Praeger.

V. Other

Allen, V. L., & Scheibe, K. E. (1982). The social context of conduct: The psychological writings of T. R. Sarbin. New York: Praeger.

Sarbin, T. R. (Ed.) (1940). Proceedings of the institute on placement services in colleges and universities. Minneapolis, MN: Center for Continuation Study, University of Minnesota.

Sarbin, T. R. (1941). The relative accuracy of clinical and statistical predictions of academic success (Unpublished doctoral thesis, The Ohio State University).

Sarbin, T. R. (1969). The myth of the criminal type. Monday Evening Papers, No. 18. Middletown, CT: Center for Advanced Studies, Wesleyan University.

Sarbin, T. R. (1987). [Review of the book Freud for historians]. History and Theory, 26, 352-364.

Extended essay reviewing Peter Gay's volume which advocates the adoption of psychoanalysis as the prefered intepretive framework for professioal historians. Sarbin offers a dissenting viewpoint and argues for consideration of alternative hermeneutical stances, particularly Goffman's dramaturgical approaches.

Sarbin, T. R. (1996). (Ed.). Vision 2021: Security issues for the next quarter century. Proceedingts of a conference sponsored by the Defense Personnel Security Research Center and Security Policy Board Staff, June 25, 1996. Monterey, CA: Defense Personnel Security Research Center.

Sarbin, T. R. (1997). [Review of the book Making sense in law: Linguistic, psychological and semiotic perspectives]. Psychological Record, 97, 519-520.

Sarbin, T. R., & Karols, K. E. (1988, December). Nonconforming sexual orientations and military suitability (Report PERS-TR-89-002). Monterey, CA: Defense Personnel Security Research and Education Center.

In this independently-prepared study (known as "the PERSEREC Report,") Sarbin and Kenneth Karols found no proof that homosexuals were greater security risks than heterosexuals. They further disputed the existence of any scientific evidence for the disruption of military life by the presence of homosexual soldiers. They recommend an elimination of the ban on gays in the U.S. military. This report was eventually released and reprinted in Gays in Uniform: The Pentagon Secret Reports (edited by Kate Dyer. Boston: Alyson Publications, 1996).

 

Bibliographical: Secondary Literature

Bruner, J. (1986). Actual minds, possible worlds. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Bruner, J. (1987). Life as narrative. Social Research, 54, 11-32.

Cameron, N. (1943). The development of paranoic thinking. Psychological Review, 50, 219-233.

This essay encapsulates Cameron's use of inept role-taking as explanatory of paranoid behavior, a perspective which influenced Sarbin's thought profoundly.

Cameron, N. (1943). The paranoid pseudo-community. The American Journal of Sociology, 49(1), 32-38.

Cameron, N. (1947). The psychology of behavior disorders: A biosocial interpretation. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Co.

Cameron, N. (1950). Role concepts in behavior pathology. American Journal of Sociology, 55, 450-463.

Cameron, N. (1959). The paranoid pseudo-community revisited. The American Journal of Sociology, 65(1), 52-58.

Cameron, N., & Magaret, A. (1951). Behavior pathology. Oxford, UK: Houghton Mifflin.

Glaser, D. (1957). A note on "Differential Mediation of Social Perception as a Correlate of Social Adjustment." Sociometry, 20, 156-160.

Responds to Baker & Sarbin, 1956; Sarbin & Baker, 1957, respond in turn

Hevern, V. W. (1999). Narrative, believed-in imaginings, and psychology's methods: An interview with Theodore R. Sarbin. Teaching of Psychology, 26, 300-304.

Sarbin discusses his theoretical understandings vis-a-vis narrative and the historical (biographical) context within which he came to these positions.

Korb, L. J. (1996, August). The military and social change. U.S. Post Cold-War Civil-Military Relations Working Paper Series #5. John M. Olin Institute for Strategic Studies. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University. (Online version)

Lawrence J. Korb, Director, Center for Public Policy Education, and Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy Studies Program, Brookings Institution (1988-98) discusses how the military confronts problems of social change. In doing so, he discusses the origin and outcome of Sarbin & Karols' 1988 study on homosexuality and the military.

Pepper, S. (1942). World hypotheses. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

Sarbin became acquainted with philosopher Steven Pepper's notion of "root metaphors" as comprehensive ways of understanding reality and employed the distinction between mechanism and contexualism (two of these root metaphors) as he moved toward a narrative approach to psychology.

Return to Theorists and Key Figures When citing this document, you may wish to consider this form for the reference (derived from APA Style [5th ed.]) Hevern, V. W. (2005, September). Key Theorists: Theodore R. Sarbin. Narrative psychology: Internet and resource guide. Retrieved [enter date] from the Le Moyne College Web site: http://web.lemoyne.edu/~hevern/nr-theorists/

Narrative Psychology: Internet and Resource Guide is copyright © 1996-2005 by Vincent W. Hevern, SJ, all rights reserved. No portion of this guide may be reproduced or used for commercial or other purposes without the express written consent of the author.