Jules Henry
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Jules Henry (November 29, 1904 – September 23, 1969) was an American anthropologist. After studies at the City College of New York, Henry earned his
Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
in anthropology from
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
in 1935. His classmates included Irving Goldman, Ruth Landes and Edward Kennard. His instructors at Columbia included Franz Boas and
Margaret Mead Margaret Mead (December 16, 1901 – November 15, 1978) was an American cultural anthropologist who featured frequently as an author and speaker in the mass media during the 1960s and the 1970s. She earned her bachelor's degree at Barnard C ...
. Henry lived with and mastered the language of the
Kaingang The Kaingang (also spelled ''caingangue'' in Portuguese (language), Portuguese or ''kanhgág'' in the Kaingang language) people are an Indigenous peoples in Brazil, Indigenous Brazilian ethnic group spread out over the three southern Brazilian s ...
natives of the highlands of southern Brazil. In writing about the experience, Henry married the then newly popular
psychoanalytic PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: + . is a set of theories and therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a body of knowledge. In what might ...
notions of
Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies explained as originating in conflicts ...
with the non-invasive, observational discipline of professional anthropology. The resulting monograph, ''Jungle People'', was, as Henry himself put it, "the first anthropological monograph written from a
psychoanalytic PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: + . is a set of theories and therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a body of knowledge. In what might ...
point of view." In 1936, Henry began an 18-month observational residence with the Pilaga natives of Argentina, which, as with his experience in Brazil, figures in his two books, both of which figured in the orthopsychiatry movement becoming popular at that time (orthopsychiatry is the psychiatric study, treatment, and prevention of emotional and behavioral problems, especially of those that arise during early development). According to Harold Gould, writing in the
American Anthropologist ''American Anthropologist'' is the flagship journal of the American Anthropological Association (AAA), published quarterly by Wiley. The "New Series" began in 1899 under an editorial board that included Franz Boas, Daniel G. Brinton, and John W ...
in 1969, his experiences with people largely unexposed to Western, industrial culture led Henry "beyond the primitive band into the broader and more universal questions of how human behavior (indeed, the human condition) is transmitted from generation to generation and with what consequences." Afterwards, he was employed by the
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and
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and held various teaching positions at the
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and in
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. From 1947 to his death in 1969, Henry served as professor of sociology at
Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...
. His most significant publications before his two major books (cited below) include "Environment and Symptom Formation" (1946), “Cultural Discontinuity and the Shadow of the Past” (1948), “The Principle of Limits with Special Reference to the Social Sciences” (1950), “Family Structure and Psychic Development” (1951), “Family Structure and the Transmission of Neurotic Behavior” (1951), “Child Rearing, Culture and the Natural World” (1952), “Culture, Education and Communications Theory” (1954), “American Culture and Mental Health” (1956), “Attitude Organization in Elementary School Classrooms” (1957), “The Problem of Spontaneity, Initiative and Creativity in Suburban Classrooms” (1959), “The Naturalistic Observations of Families of Psychotic Children” (1961), “Notes on the Alchemy of Mass Misrepresentation” (1961), “Values, Guilt, Suffering and Consequences” (1963), “American Schoolrooms: Learning the Nightmare” (1963), “On Regimentation” (1964), “My Life with the Families of Psychotic Children” (1964), “Sham” (1966), “Public Education and Public Anxiety” (1967), and “Attitude Organization in Elementary School Classrooms” (1969). The article, “Capital’s Last Frontier,” published in ''The Nation'' magazine in 1966 induced a flurry of letters to the editor. His similarly toned speech at the Canadian Centennial celebration in 1967, “The United States: From Barbarism to Decadence Without Civilization?” also caused a stir in academic circles. Henry's first book, '' Culture Against Man'' (1963) questioned the authority of, and rationale behind, cultural institutions, particularly public
education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...
. The collection of essays and anthropological study first drafted in the mid 1950s also examined the influence of American advertising in the ''
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'' era and the “human obsolescence” and profitable “warehousing” of the elderly in institutional settings. His second book, ''Pathways to Madness'' (1965), focused on interpersonally-induced mental and
developmental disorder Developmental disorders comprise a group of psychiatric conditions originating in childhood that involve serious impairment in different areas. There are several ways of using this term. The most narrow concept is used in the category "Specific Di ...
s, raising the question of how
disease A disease is a particular abnormal condition that negatively affects the structure or function of all or part of an organism, and that is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical conditions that a ...
and disorder arise from behavioral conditioning in
families of origin Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideal ...
and cultural institutions. Others developing similar ideas included Gregory Bateson (
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),
Paul Watzlawick Paul Watzlawick (July 25, 1921 – March 31, 2007) was an Austrian-American family therapist, psychologist, communication theorist, and philosopher. A theoretician in communication theory and radical constructivism, he commented in the fields ...
(paradoxical injunction), Don D. Jackson (the etiology of
schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social wit ...
) and Ronald D. Laing (crazy-making families). His third (posthumous) book, ''On Sham, Vulnerability and other forms of Self-Destruction'' (1973)Henry, J., ''On Sham, Vulnerability and other forms of Self-Destruction'' ( City of Westminster,
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
: Allen Lane, 1973).
is a collection of essays, among them his famed eight-page essay on "Sham," originally prepared for the 1966 Conference on Society and Psychosis at the
Hahnemann Medical College Drexel University College of Medicine is the medical school of Drexel University, a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The medical school represents the consolidation of two medical schools: the first U.S. medical school f ...
(now Drexel University Medical School) in Philadelphia. In it, Henry describes how children are socialized to accept and utilize dishonesty as an interpersonal tool despite being taught to "always tell the truth."


References


External links


Jules Henry's papers at Washington UniversityJules Henry 1904 - 1969 - Obituary from the American Anthropologist, Volume 73, Issue 3, which includes a complete listing of all Henry's published papers

Online copy of Culture Against Man
* online copy of Pathways to Madness -- https://archive.org/details/pathwaystomadnes00henr {{DEFAULTSORT:Henry, Jules Cultural anthropologists Psychological anthropologists American sociologists American psychology writers American male non-fiction writers Washington University in St. Louis faculty Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni 1904 births 1969 deaths 20th-century American anthropologists