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This volume presents in an orderly and comprehensive fashion certain concepts from the field of social psychology and to demonstrate their application in the taking and evaluation of the life histories of individuals. For purposes of illustrating the method the author has applied seven standards or “criteria” to six selected famous life history documents, namely, (1) “The Case of Miss R” by Alfred Adler, (2) “Thirty-one Contacts with a Seven Year Old Boy” by Jessie Taft, (3) “Analysis of a Phobia in a Five Year Old Boy” by Freud, (4) “Life Record of an Immigrant” by W, I. Thomas and Florian Znaniecki, (5) “The Jack Roller” by Clifford R. Shaw and (6) “Experiment in Autobiography” by H. G. Wells.
The criteria which are indispensable for judging the life history as laid down by the author are: (1) “The subject must be viewed as a specimen in a cultural series”. This emphasizes the cultural history of the times into which the individual is born; (2) “The organic motors of action must be socially relevant”. This deals with the organic aspects of the person who is born into a given culture; (3) “The peculiar role of the family group in transmitting the culture must be recognized”; (4) “The specific method of elaboration of organic materials into social behavior must be shown”; (5) “The continuous related character of experience from childhood through adulthood must be stressed”; (6) “The ‘social situation’ must be carefully and continuously specified as a factor”; (7) “The life history material must be organized and conceptualized “. This stresses the correct method of organizing and utilizing the material gained by the study of the individual as a connected whole.