Robert edgerton biography

He was committed to the investigation and understanding of the complexities of human nature. His intellectual contribution to the medical and human sciences was to provide a cultural and social context for understanding mental illness and the disabilities that afflict so many, and to understand the experiences of people in their local community context from their own moral and emotional points of view.

His research illuminated the potentials as well as the ability, with the help of benefactors and robert edgerton biography social and economic supports, for so many with disabilities to live in the community. Among his many influential books are The Individual in Cultural Adaptation, a study of four tribes in East Africa and the influences of ecology and culture on their beliefs and practices; Drunken Comportment co-authored with Craig MacAndrewwhich showed the very diverse behavioral responses to alcohol found around the world; Sick Societies: Challenging the Myth of Primitive Harmony, which described the conditions and signs that define troubles in such societies, and the fact that all communities, including small, traditional societies, have conflicts and disaffection; Mental Retardation, a comprehensive and cross-cultural overview of the field, along with Deviance: A cross-cultural perspective; and The Cloak of Competence: Stigma in the Lives of the Mentally Retarded, which followed the lives of men and women released in the s and s from state hospitals in California, documenting their struggles to re-enter society and their often-remarkable achievements.

Cloak received the Distinguished Research Award from the American Society for Mental Retardation, and was for many years among the most successful and longest books in print for the University of California Press. The new and revised edition of Cloak was published in and remains in print. His eminent academic career included the distinction of being the first UCLA School of Medicine faculty member to be appointed to the position of University Professor in The title University Professor is reserved for scholars of the highest international distinction who are recognized and honored as the top scholars on their campus and are respected as teachers of exceptional ability.

Furthermore, this title confers affiliation with the entire University of California system beyond the home campus. The first University Professor was Edward Teller in Professor Edgerton was elected Fellow to two of the most prestigious academic associations in the country: the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Anthropology professor David Kertzerwriting for The Washington Postsympathized with the effort, considering how other societies were classically romanticized by anthropologists, but criticized the book for often selecting examples that were not necessarily representative of small primitive societies. He also argued that Edgerton's account of native American alcoholism did not convincingly support his main thesis.

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Robert edgerton biography

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