Abstract

Reviews the book, Persons, behavior, and the world. The descriptive psychology approach by Mary McDermott Shideler. In this book the author renders her own interpretation of Peter G. Ossorio's descriptive psychology. Descriptive psychology involves the parametric analysis of behavior, which the author summarizes verbally as follows: "Behavior is something that has the following aspects: an Identity, what that individual Wants, Knows, Knows How to do, Performs, and Achieves, what his Personal Characteristics are, and what the Significance of that behavior is". After outlining basic descriptive principles, Shideler devotes the second half of her book to an examination of Persons in Relationships, Person as Such and Whole Persons. The book ends with a chapter on personal change—tantalizing because it offers restatement of familiar principles from interpersonal and family theory, but now fits them into the descriptive framework. It is, perhaps, difficult to learn a new language and descriptive framework in midlife—I certainly am reluctant to give up the categories which have worked so well up to this point. Yet any phenomenologist should be tempted by a framework that so elegantly incorporates all aspects of persons, behavior and the world. 2012 APA, all rights reserved)