John Dollard's Work

Research on the life of John Dollard shows that he was born in 1900 in Menasha, Wisconsin. Dollard's mother was a school teacher and his father was a railroad engineer. Unfortunately, his father died in a train wreck when Dollard was a small child. Despite growing up without a father, Dollard did well in school. In 1922, Dollard received his BS from the University of Wisconsin in 1992. He went on to get his PhD in sociology from the University of Chicago in 1931. Throughout his education, Dollard acquired notable insights into Freudian psychoanalysis. He received training in this area at the Berlin Institute (Ewen, 1998). After receiving his PhD, Dollard held "academic appointments at Yale University in anthropology, sociology and psychology" (Ewen, 1998, p. 507).

In addition to the prestigious academic appointments that Dollard had acquired, his biography demonstrates considerable research efforts to advance human understanding of psychology. For instance, Ewen (1998) notes that in 1937 Dollard examined the exploitation of blacks in the South. In addition, Dollard worked in conjunction with a colleague from Yale, Neal Miller, to examine the impact of battle conditions on the fear and morale of soldiers. This investigation took place between the years of 1942 to 1945 while Dollard and Miller worked for the US Department of War. Dollard's work led him to write numerous books and journal articles, the most famous of which was "Fear in Battle" which was published in 1944 (Bova, 2004).

Although Dollard's research provided him with some degree of personal and professional success, Ewen (1998) does note that the specific avenues of research chosen by Dollard were somewhat contrary to the prevailing interests of the scholars at Yale. Ewen notes: "Yet he paid a price for his unusual interdisciplinary interests: academic departments tend to look with disfavor on those who depart from the common mold, and he did not become a voting full professor in the department of psychology at Yale until age 52" (p. 507). In 1969, Dollard retired from Yale with the title professor emeritus. In addition to developing an understanding of the fear faced by soldiers in battle, Dollard also developed the "frustration-aggression" hypothesis (Bova, 2004). John Dollard died in 1980.

Dollard's Work

In an effort to understand the specific contributions that Dollard made to the larger practice of psychology and counseling, it is helpful to consider the specific insights that Dollard gained through his major research studies. Considering first, Dollard's examination of blacks living in the South in the 1930s, Wilson (2002) observes that Dollard's work focused more on the ethnography of how black society developed in the South than on specific issues of psychology. Despite this however, Dollard did make some interesting observations about the dynamic interplay between society and culture and their impact on black men living in the South. Specifically, Wilson notes that for black males living in the South, the very nature of their role as providers and breadwinners was challenged. "Black men had no access to white women and only limited access to black women, and with the latter the man could offer neither food nor shelter nor protection-the essential requirements of the male social role" (p. 17).

In addition to his study of exploitation of blacks in the South, Dollard, in conjunction with Miller, also examined the fear response of soldiers in battle. During this research Dollard and Miller concluded that, much like Freud argued, the principle motivation of the individual is to reduce the presence of certain drives. However, unlike Freud, Dollard and Miller argued that there were two types of drives used by the individual: innate and learned. Innate drives were those which could be "satiated but never eliminated" (Ewen, 1998, p. 508). Learned drives are drives which are learned and can be eliminated. These include fear, anxiety, and anger (Ewen, 1998).

In addition to identifying different types of drivers, Dollard and Miller also pioneered the "stimulus-response theory." According to this theory, "learning occurs when reinforcement strengthens the connections between particular stimuli and certain responses that they elicit" (Ewen, 1998, p. 509). Linking this to their specific theory of drives, Dollard and Miller argued that reinforcement became more important to the individual if it was undertaken in the context of reducing a specific drive. The behaviors that were undertaken as a means to reduce drives were essential to the development of learning.

Extending their theories one step further, Ewen notes that Dollard and Miller were the first professionals to advance the concept of social learning theory. In short the specific behaviors manifested by the individual will not only serve as a means to reduce drive, but also, these behaviors will conform to the social conditions of the environment in which the behavior takes place. As such, Dollard and Miller were able to clearly see the relationship of an individual's behavior to the larger context of the social environment. This issue is critical because it represents a notable insight into human behavior that was later expanded by Albert Bandura, among others.

Finally, Ewen notes that from the research undertaken by Dollard and Miller, these scholars were able to draw some conclusions about the impact that fear had on the individual. As noted by these authors, individuals experienced conscious and unconscious conflicts as a result of fear. Conscious conflicts were issues that individuals dealt with on a day to day basis. However, unconscious conflicts were difficult to address and even more difficult to overcome. Fear, Dollard and Miller argued, also lead to repression: "repression consists of an unconscious (and therefore uncontrollable) decision to stop thinking about anxiety provoking issues" (p. 516). Finally, Dollard and Miller argued that the development of pathological symptoms in response to fear were efforts made by the mind to reduce the stress and anxiety caused by fear.

Dollard also pioneered the frustration-aggression hypothesis. As noted by DeMartino and Chalmers (1958) the frustration-aggression hypothesis posited that the presence of aggression occurs before frustration. Further, frustration can produce a number of different responses, one of which is typically aggression. Although this hypothesis received notable criticism, it provided the basis for further investigations into the development of both frustration and aggression. As such, this research marks a notable springboard for other theorists.

Theory in Practice

Using what he found through his work, Dollard was able to develop methods that could be used for improving clinical practice. Overall, Dollard believed in the basic tenets of psychotherapy. Ewen (1998) notes that in practicing psychotherapy, Dollard did not believe that physical removal of painful stimulus would provide relief for the patient. As such Dollard believed that: "that psychotherapy must enable patients to reduce their irrational fears, abandon the harmful response of repression, and start applying their higher mental processes to their emotional problems" (p. 517).

Ewen goes on to note that Dollard developed a host of therapeutic practices that he believed were best suited to meeting the needs of the client. For instance, Dollard argued that clients were more likely to respond to a therapist that was thorough and "takes his time." In addition, Dollard supported the use of free association as a means to both support the client and create an atmosphere in which the individual's overall needs could be met. Finally, Ewen notes that Dollard believed that the past history of the patient needed to be explored so that the current issues impacting the client's development could be better understood. Ewen notes that Dollard argued: "Without understanding the past, the future cannot be changed" (p. 517).

Conclusion

Overall, Dollard's work has provided theorists with notable insights into human behavior and development. Ewen notes that because of Dollard's work, the gap between behaviorism and psychoanalysis become smaller, as theorists began to recognize where these two fields of inquiry could potentially overlap. Further, Dollard's development of social learning theory and the frustration-aggression hypothesis were widely expanded by other theorists working in the field. As such, John Dollard made many notable contributions to both the psychology and counseling professions.

References

Bova, C. (2004). John Dollard. Minnesota State University Mankato. Accessed April 24, 2006 at: http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/information/biography/abcde/dollard_john.html.

Ewen, R.B. (1998). An Introduction to Theories of Personality. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Wilson, J.Q. (2002). Slavery and the black family. The Public Interest, 147, 2-23.

DeMartino, M.F., & Chalmers, L.S. (1958). Understanding Human Motivation. Cleveland, OH: Howard Allen.