PubMed · 9737729
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S Wolf. Integrative round table: introduction.. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf02688653
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This paper explores the disciplinary status of social psychology through an analysis of the history of the boundary relations of psychology, sociology, and social psychology. After outlining some research on the nature of scientific disciplines, on the role of rhetoric in the constitution of disciplines, and on "boundary work," I consider the singular importance of social psychology as a discipline for the analysis of boundary relations, examining its units of analysis and its "disciplining." The boundaries of the disciplines of social psychology were seen as fluid, contingent, local, and contestable, reflecting the thematic preoccupations, disciplinary origins, and meta-theoretical commitments of social psychologists, of the parent disciplines, and of those who represent disciplinary practices.
Because all health conditions for which the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is responsible manifest at the level of behavior, and all interventions must have an impact at the behavioral level, NIMH is firmly committed to the support of behavioral science. In an era in which research in areas that some view as reductionist--for example, genomics, genetics, functional genomics and proteomics, and molecular science--is especially promising, NIMH is striving to maintain a balance in its portfolio with studies that explore integrative aspects of biology, including behavior. Without this perspective, new information about fundamental processes will prove ultimately to be shallow. This commentary discusses how understanding of brain and behavior in mental illness and health calls for integrating bottom-up research that studies brain and behavior through genes and molecules, with top-down research that examines the impact of environment.