One Thousand Unsuccessful Careers

Alcoholism, drug abuse, and the homeless.

“…Almshoses, shelters, and jails were the primary institutions caring for the indigent and derelict (Baumohl & Room, 1987; Straus, 1955). In colonial America, community workhouses cared for the unsettled poor, the feeble, and the drunkards (Sterns & Ullman, 1949). States began to assume responsibility for almshouses and poor farms before the Civil War.…”

Social Attainment and Performance under Stress1

“…It would also provide information concemmg the factors mvolved m the development of the schizophrenic psychosis from the "substratum" of poor adaptation to stress It would appear that the schizophrenic process itself is only one means of coping with the stresses of everyday living Further investigation may provide some answer to the question of why some individuals of low social attainment become alcoholic (18) and others schizophrenic By companng psychotic and normal individuals of low social attainment, such factors may more clearly emerge Equally important are the sources and nature of social lnadequac} itself The second direction for investigation, therefore, is a thorough study of this variable In research now being conducted at Worcester State Hospital, a number of psychological and physiological vanables are being evaluated in relation to this factor of social attainment SUMMARY The purpose of the present study is to provide supportive evidence for the assumption that social inadequacy is related to an inability to cope with stressful situations The Worcester Scale of Social Attainment was employed as the measure of social adequacy Measure of performance under task-induced and failureinduced stress were obtained A group of normal subjects was employed as the expenmental population…”

“…These inadequacies in vanous areas of social behavior as measured by tangible performance (school achievement, marriage, economic level) we have conceptualized as a failure in social attainment. It should be pointed out, however, that failure in social attainment is not unique to the schizophrenic, nor do all socially madequate individuals become psychotic Steams and Ullman (18) describe the characteristics of 1000 destitute individuals who are neither psychotic nor feebleminded, they tend to be single, hold unskilled or seasonable jobs, and show little educational accomphshment On the other hand, there are schizophrenics who do not show a lack of social attainment These have been termed "at3T)ical" schizophrenics in contrast to the typical low social attainment background of schizophrenics m general (13) The social attainment of an individual may be considered to be a reflection of the degree to which he has achieved through his own efforts a successful mastery of tasks incumbent on any member of our society As an individual develops he faces a series of problems, and there are individual differences in the adequacy with which these are met Maintaining oneself economically requires long-term goal-oriented behavior Similarly, getting married and raising a family also may present numerous difficulties…”

Psychology and manpower policy.

“…First, the phenomenological one: How much disturbance falls within the range of the tolerable; how much is predictive of later pathology? Even more complex is the challenge thrown out by Warren Stearns some years ago when in tracing 1,000 failures in Massachusetts he was unable to identify the environment as the causative agent (Stearns & Ullman, 1949).…”