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Work and Human Behaviour

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Work is a many-sided human enterprise that has been written about from a great many different points of view, representing almost every field of knowledge and almost every level of our social structure. Merely to identify these points of view is an impressive task. The subject of work has been written about by theologians and philosophers, by poets and novelists, by historians, economists, and sociologists, by biologists and naturalists, by politicians, by essayists and journalists. It has been described as both a blessing and a curse, as the chief means through which man has developed a high culture, and as a ravager of our natural environment. Following the preface, and an introductory chapter on the scope of the problem of work, the title is divided up into four main sections, which include: Work and Society, Work and the Individual, Clinical Issues, and Some Contemporary Problems. Since the appearance of the first edition three major developments have taken place in the World of Work. First, there has been a sudden explosion of concern-at the levels of both federal government and industrial management - about what is being perceived as new and dangerous forms of work alienation. Second, the late 1960's and early 1970's was a period in which major new claims for occupational equality were being put forward by sectors of the actual and potential labor force - women, blacks, other minorities - which had hitherto been denied full access to the opportunity structure. Third, any partly because of these new claims, an acrimonious and rather widely publicized debate has broken out among social scientists concerning the biological and social factors implicated in equality. This second edition, therefore, was prompted not merely by the ordinary requirements of scholarly updating, but also because of the need to take account of these important new developments.

361 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1985

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309 reviews49 followers
November 26, 2010
Walten Neff sets the standard for excellent scholarly work on psychology and social science in general. This book is by far the best overview on the topic of work (as he noted in 1974, there wasn't much that psychology had to say on the topic then, and I haven't personally come across anything striking since). More than that, he uses a light, accessible writing style to explore various aspects of work and behavior, exploring each issue from multiple angles. This is probably the single best thing about the work, since it provide the balance and perspective that you don't generally find in scholarly publications, whether for professionals or the general public.

I read this book in pieces over the course of two years, so it wouldn't make much sense to get into the details of the ideas and issues reviewed (except in the most general and pointless way), so I'll leave the comments to the general theme, scope and style of the book. Students and professionals of the social sciences would strongly benefit from reading this at any point in their career, if not for the specific issues related to work or the methods of psychological study, than certainly to use as a model of good writing.
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