Mind, Brain, Body, and Behavior

138 FARRERAS

Toward that goal, the laboratory was made up of four sections, three

in the basic research program–the Section of the Chief, the Section on

Social Development and Family Studies, and the Section on Commu­

nity and Population Studies–and one in the clinical research program–

the Section on Social Studies in Therapeutic Settings. The Section of

the Chief, headed by Clausen, analyzed theoretical and methodological

issues in the sociology of mental health and illness and the relationship

between social structure and personality. It also studied the impact of

mental illness on the family and the adaptation of the mentally ill pa­

tient to his or her family upon release from the hospital.^6

Marian R. Yarrow, Ph.D.

Courtesy of the National Institute

of Mental Health

The Section on Social Development and Family Studies was headed

by Marian R. Yarrow and focused on the psychosocial factors that influ­

enced an individual’s mental health as well as an individual’s personal­

ity at various stages of development, with an emphasis on childhood

and old age. Specifically, some of its studies included: 1) the development

of observational techniques to supplement and cross-validate inter­

view techniques assessing interpersonal relationships within the family;

2) assessing the validity of retrospective data on early parent-child

relationships and family conditions; 3) assessing how children perceive,

evaluate, and respond to others, especially their awareness and sensitiv­

ity to the psycho-social characteristics and motives of others; 4) children’s

development of self-identity and later formation of peer relationships;