David Shapiro’s Characterology and Complex Systems Theory

Chapter
First Online:

Abstract

David Shapiro’s work, most notably Neurotic Styles (1965), has influenced ­generations of psychologists, psychiatrists, and other students of the mind from diverse theoretical orientations. His broad appeal is typically thought to rest in his rich phenomenological description of various character styles. While true, careful reading of Neurotic Styles and Shapiro’s (1981, 1989, 2000) subsequent body of work reveals a holistic, systemic theory of character that has theoretical and clinical importance. Shapiro describes neurotic character as a self-regulating dynamic system that diminishes the individual’s conscious experience of autonomy (sense of separateness from the external world) and self-direction (sense of acting in accord with conscious aims or intentions). From within this framework, Shapiro then sees symptoms as consequences, and defenses as conspicuous expressions, of these same restrictive, self-regulating dynamics.

Keywords

Adaptive System Cellular Automaton Stable Organization Optimal Coordination Complex System Theory 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

Notes

Acknowledgments

My thanks to Mindy Greenstein and Everett Waters for their very helpful comments on earlier drafts of this chapter.

References

  1. Bressler, S. L. (2003). Cortical coordination dynamics and the disorganization syndrome in schizophrenia. Neuropsychopharmacology, 28, S35–S39.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  2. Bressler, S. L., & Kelso, J. A. S. (2001). Cortical coordination dynamics and cognition. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 5, 26–36.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  3. Demos, E. V. (2007). The dynamics of development. In C. Piers, J. P. Muller, & J. Brent (Eds.), Self-organizing complexity in psychological systems (pp. 135–164). New York: Jason Aronson.Google Scholar
  4. Edelman, G. (1992). Bright air, brilliant fire: On the matter of the mind. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
  5. Edelman, G. (2004). Wider than the sky: The phenomenal gift of consciousness. New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
  6. Epstein, J. M., & Axtell, R. L. (1996). Growing artificial societies: Social sciences from the bottom up. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.Google Scholar
  7. Freeman, W. J. (1995). Societies of brains: A study in the neuroscience of love and hate. Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar
  8. Freeman, W. J. (2007). A biological theory of brain function and its relevance to psychoanalysis. In C. Piers, J. P. Muller, & J. Brent (Eds.), Self-organizing complexity in psychological systems (pp. 15–36). New York: Jason Aronson.Google Scholar
  9. Galatzer-Levy, R. M. (2009). Good vibrations: Analytic process as coupled oscillations. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 90, 983–1007.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  10. Ghent, E. (2002). Wish, need, drive: Motive in light of dynamic systems theory and Edelman’s selectionist theory. Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 12, 763–808.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  11. Goldstein, J. (2007). Emergence and psychological morphogenesis. In C. Piers, J. P. Muller, & J. Brent (Eds.), Self-organizing complexity in psychological systems (pp. 111–134). New York: Jason Aronson.Google Scholar
  12. Goodwin, B. (1994). How the leopard changed its spots: The evolution of complexity. New York: Simon & Schuster.Google Scholar
  13. Grigsby, J., & Osuch, E. (2007). Neurodynamics, state, agency and psychological functioning. In C. Piers, J. P. Muller, & J. Brent (Eds.), Self-organizing complexity in psychological systems (pp. 37–82). New York: Jason Aronson.Google Scholar
  14. Ilachinski, A. (2001). Cellular automata: A discrete universe. River Edge: World Scientific.Google Scholar
  15. Kelso, J. A. S. (1999). Dynamic patterns: The self-organization of brain and behavior. Cambridge: MIT Press.Google Scholar
  16. Kelso, J. A. S., & Engstrom, D. A. (2006). The complementary nature. Cambridge: MIT Press.Google Scholar
  17. Kozma, R., Puljic, M., Balister, P., Bollobas, B., & Freeman, W. J. (2005). Phase transitions in the neuropercolation model of neural populations with mixed local and non-local interactions. Biological Cybernetics, 92(6), 367–379.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  18. Lachaux, J. -P., Rodriguez, E., Martinerie, J., & Varela, F. J. (1999). Measuring phase synchrony in brain signals. Human Brain Mapping, 8, 194–208.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  19. Mandelbrot, B. B. (1982). The fractal geometry of nature. San Francisco: W. H. Freeman.Google Scholar
  20. Piers, C. (2000). Character as self-organizing complexity. Psychoanalysis and Contemporary Thought, 23, 3–34.Google Scholar
  21. Piers, C. (2005). The mind’s multiplicity and continuity. Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 15, 229–254.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  22. Piers, C. (2007). Emergence: When a difference in degree becomes a difference in kind. In C. Piers, J. P. Muller, & J. Brent (Eds.), Self-organizing complexity in psychological systems (pp. 83–110). New York: Jason Aronson.Google Scholar
  23. Resnick, M. (1994). Turtles, termites and traffic jams: Exploration in massively parallel microworlds. Cambridge: MIT Press.Google Scholar
  24. Shapiro, D. (1965). Neurotic styles. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
  25. Shapiro, D. (1981). Autonomy and rigid character. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
  26. Shapiro, D. (1989). Psychotherapy of neurotic character. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
  27. Shapiro, D. (2000). Dynamics of character: Self-regulation in psychopathology. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
  28. Strogatz, S. (2003). Sync: How order emerges from chaos in the universe, nature, and daily life. New York: Theia.Google Scholar
  29. Thelen, E., & Smith, L. B. (1994). A dynamic systems approach to the development of cognition and action. Cambridge: MIT Press.Google Scholar
  30. Uhlhaas, P. J., Linden, D. S. J., Singer, W., Haenschel, C., Lindner, M., Maurer, K., & Rodriguez, E. (2006). Dysfunctional long-range coordination of neural activity during gestalt perception in schizophrenia. The Journal of Neuroscience, 26(31):8168–8175.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  31. Wachtel, P. L. (2008). Relational theory and the practice of psychotherapy. New York: Guilford.Google Scholar
  32. Wolfram, S. (2002). A new kind of science. Champaign: Wolfram Media, Inc.Google Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2011

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Thompson Health Center, Williams CollegeWilliamstownUSA

Personalised recommendations