Alexandra Rutherford | |
---|---|
Nationality | Canadian |
Occupation(s) | professor, author, editor |
Academic background | |
Alma mater | York University |
Thesis | Between the science of behavior and the art of living: B. F. Skinner and psychology’s public in mid-20th century America (2001) |
Academic work | |
Discipline | Psychology |
Institutions | York University |
Main interests | Psychology and Feminism,history of psychology |
Notable works | Beyond the Box:B. F. Skinner's Technology of Behavior from Laboratory to Life,1950s-1970s Pioneers of Psychology |
Alexandra Rutherford is a professor of psychology at York University's History and Theory of Psychology Graduate Program and author of Beyond the Box:B. F. Skinner's Technology of Behavior from Laboratory to Life,1950s-1970s and Pioneers of Psychology.
Rutherford earned her Bachelor of Science with High Distinction in 1993 from Trinity College at the University of Toronto in 1993. She completed her Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology at York University in 1995 and her PhD in the History and Theory of Psychology and Clinical Psychology at York University in 2001. [1]
Since 2001,Rutherford has been teaching in the psychology department at York University,first as assistant professor,from 2006 as associate professor, [1] and later as full professor.[ citation needed ]
In 2004,Rutherford founded The Psychology's Feminist Voices project [2] which resulted in the launching of Psychology's Feminist Voices—an online,digital archive of the contributions made by women throughout the history of psychology,including the role of contemporary feminist psychologists in transforming the discipline of psychology. [3]
In 2017,her research examined the "influence of feminist-scholar activism on gender-based violence policy in the United States." [4] : 123
Her 2009 book,an historical critical work on American psychologist and behaviorist,B. F. Skinner—Beyond the Box:B. F. Skinner's Technology of Behavior from Laboratory to Life,1950s-1970s —was largely based on her doctoral dissertation entitled "Between the science of behavior and the art of living:B. F. Skinner and psychology’s public in mid-20th century America." [1] Beyond the Box was listed as the London Times Higher Education's "Book of the week—July 16-July 23,2009. [5] A 2018 journal review,described Beyond the Box,as a "much-needed post-revisionist interpretation" of Skinner situating his work within its "social context". [6]
In Pioneers of Psychology,which Rutherford co-authored with Raymond E. Fancher,they examined Sigmund Freud's in-depth interpretation in his book The Interpretation of Dreams ,of his own July 23,1895 dream—Irma's injection. [7] [8] : 466–471
In her 2011 review of Susan Brownmiller's 1975 Against Our Will:Men,Women and Rape [9] published in the Psychology of Women Quarterly ,Rutherford wrote that prior to Brownmiller's book,most Americans had assumed that "rape,incest and domestic violence rarely happened and that when they did,they were perpetrated by a few sexual deviants." [4] : 104 [10] In the 1970s,American second-wave feminists coined the term "rape culture". [11]
Rutherford appeared as an expert on Skinner,on the August 28,2019 episode,"A History of Persuasion",on WNYC Studios' On the Media hosted by Kai Wright and reported by Amanda Aronczyk. [12]
Burrhus Frederic Skinner was an American psychologist,behaviorist,inventor,and social philosopher. He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology at Harvard University from 1958 until his retirement in 1974.
Psychology is the study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans,both conscious and unconscious phenomena,and mental processes such as thoughts,feelings,and motives. Psychology is an academic discipline of immense scope,crossing the boundaries between the natural and social sciences. Biological psychologists seek an understanding of the emergent properties of brains,linking the discipline to neuroscience. As social scientists,psychologists aim to understand the behavior of individuals and groups.
Sigmund Freud was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis,a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies seen as originating from conflicts in the psyche,through dialogue between patient and psychoanalyst,and the distinctive theory of mind and human agency derived from it.
Walden Two is a utopian novel written by behavioral psychologist B. F. Skinner,first published in 1948. At that time,it was considered as science fiction since science-based methods for altering people's behavior did not exist then. Such methods are now known as applied behavior analysis.
Carol Gilligan is an American feminist,ethicist,and psychologist,best known for her work on ethical community and ethical relationships.
Sociobiological theories of rape explore how evolutionary adaptation influences the psychology of rapists. Such theories are highly controversial,as traditional theories typically do not consider rape a behavioral adaptation. Some object to such theories on ethical,religious,political,or scientific grounds. Others argue correct knowledge of rape causes is necessary for effective preventive measures.
Susan Brownmiller is an American journalist,author and feminist activist best known for her 1975 book Against Our Will:Men,Women,and Rape,which was selected by The New York Public Library as one of 100 most important books of the 20th century.
Nancy Julia Chodorow is an American sociologist and professor. She began her career as a professor of Women's studies at Wellesley College in 1973,and from 1974 on taught at the University of California,Santa Cruz,until 1986. She then was a professor in the departments of sociology and clinical psychology at the University of California,Berkeley until she resigned in 1986,after which she taught psychiatry at Harvard Medical School/Cambridge Health Alliance. Chodorow is often described as a leader in feminist thought,especially in the realms of psychoanalysis and psychology.
Rape culture is a setting,as described by some sociological theories,in which rape is pervasive and normalized due to that setting's attitudes about gender and sexuality. Behaviors commonly associated with rape culture include victim blaming,slut-shaming,sexual objectification,trivializing rape,denial of widespread rape,refusing to acknowledge the harm caused by sexual violence,or some combination of these. It has been used to describe and explain behavior within social groups,including prison rape and in conflict areas where war rape is used as psychological warfare. Entire societies have been alleged to be rape cultures.
Women Against Pornography (WAP) was a radical feminist activist group based out of New York City that was influential in the anti-pornography movement of the late 1970s and the 1980s.
"Irma's injection" is the name given to the dream that Sigmund Freud dreamt on the night of July 23,1895,and that he subsequently analyzed to arrive at his theory that dreams are wish fulfillments. He described his ideas on dream theory and provided his analysis of the dream,alongside other dreams from case studies,in his book The Interpretation of Dreams.
The Freudian Cover-up is a theory introduced by social worker Florence Rush in 1971,which asserts that Sigmund Freud intentionally ignored evidence that his patients were victims of sexual abuse. The theory argues that in developing his theory of infant sexuality,he misinterpreted his patients' claim of sexual abuse as symptoms of repressed incestuous desire. Therefore,Freud claimed that children who reported sexual abuse by adults had either imagined or fantasized the experience.
A Natural History of Rape:Biological Bases of Sexual Coercion is a 2000 book by the biologist Randy Thornhill and the anthropologist Craig T. Palmer,in which the authors argue that evolutionary psychology can account for rape among human beings,maintain that rape is either a behavioral adaptation or a byproduct of adaptive traits such as sexual desire and aggressiveness,and make proposals for preventing rape. They also criticize the assumption that there is a connection between what is naturally selected and what is morally right or wrong,which they refer to as the "naturalistic fallacy",and the idea,popularized by the feminist author Susan Brownmiller in Against Our Will (1975),that rape is an expression of male domination and is not sexually motivated.
Feminist psychology is a form of psychology centered on social structures and gender. Feminist psychology critiques historical psychological research as done from a male perspective with the view that males are the norm. Feminist psychology is oriented on the values and principles of feminism.
The Evolution of Human Sexuality is a 1979 book about human sexuality by the anthropologist Donald Symons,in which the author discusses topics such as human sexual anatomy,ovulation,orgasm,homosexuality,sexual promiscuity,and rape,attempting to show how evolutionary concepts can be applied to humans. Symons argues that the female orgasm is not an adaptive trait and that women have the capacity for it only because orgasm is adaptive for men,and that differences between the sexual behavior of male and female homosexuals help to show underlying differences between male and female sexuality. In his view,homosexual men tend to be sexually promiscuous because of the tendency of men in general to desire sex with a large number of partners,a tendency that in heterosexual men is usually restrained by women's typical lack of interest in promiscuous sex. Symons also argues that rape can be explained in evolutionary terms and feminist claims that it is not sexually motivated are incorrect.
Against Our Will:Men,Women and Rape is a 1975 book about rape by Susan Brownmiller,in which the author argues that rape is "a conscious process of intimidation by which all men keep all women in a state of fear."
Eleanor Acheson McCulloch Gamble was an influential American psychologist from the late 19th century through the early 20th century. Gamble published most of her work on audition and memory influenced by Georg Elias Müller,Edward B. Titchener,Mary Whiton Calkins,and Ernst Heinrich Weber. Despite her chronic eye conditions she was successful in editing volumes of textbooks,her own papers,and directing many master's degree students. She earned her undergraduate degree from Wellesley College in 1889. She went on to obtain her doctorate from Cornell University in 1898. She held several teaching positions over the course of her career and was a member of several influential organizations including the American Psychological Association (APA). Gamble was a distinguished and well-liked professor at Wellesley College for more than two decades,and by 1930 she was the head of the Department of Philosophy and Psychology following the death of Mary Whiton Calkins. At the time of her death she was professor of psychology and director of the psychological laboratory at Wellesley College.
Psychology's Feminist Voices (PFV) is an online,multimedia digital archive containing the stories of women of psychology's past and contemporary feminist psychologists who have shaped and continue to transform the discipline of psychology. It houses a wide range of materials,including original biographical profiles,oral history interview transcripts,video content,timelines,bibliographies,teaching resources,and an original 40-minute documentary on the emergence and current status of feminist psychology in the United States. The project is continually expanding and currently has a database containing the profiles of over 250 psychologists from around the world.
Pauline Elizabeth Scarborough was an American historian of Psychology,born in Ruston,Louisiana. Scarborough transformed the understanding of early American Psychology through her work on the role and impact of women in the field.
Martha Tamara Shuch Mednick was a feminist psychologist known for her work on women,gender,race and social class. She was a professor of psychology at Howard University from 1968 until her retirement in 1995.