Psychodrama and the Future of the Social Sciences
Keywords:
psychodrama, social sciencesAbstract
This article originally appeared in the journal Group Psychotherapy and Psychodrama in 1974, just after the death of Jonathan's father.
The article provides a brilliantly written brief history of the historical
development of the social sciences, placing psychodrama within a phenomenological epistemology, which is interested more "in the essence of psychical phenomenon, and not in the facts purely as such." Psychodrama is interested in working with the "essence of perception," the author writes. "The person stands at the center of his intuited senses, the nucleus of his perceived world, about which revolves his social atom and his psychodramatic life-world." The author's thesis is that psychodramatic theory and practice represent a significant bridge between humanistic and behavioristic strategies in social sciences, then he boldly states that "it is the only bridge of this type extant in human society today." Even 37 years later, this article from the ASGPP Archive is significant today in its implications for the future of psychodrama and sociometry in social
science theory, and it influences how we observe and participate together at a time when psychodramatic and sociometric theory and practice are needed more than ever.—Adam M. Barcroft
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