Carl Backman, Ph.D.

* Emeritus Professor Dept. of Sociology Ph.D., M.A., Indiana University B.A., Oberlin College

Research:

Research related to a social psychological approach to personality which views the self as an emergent component of personality created in the context of the development of relationships with others. A recent statement of this theory and related research:

Backman, C.W. (1988). The self: A dialectical approach. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, volume 21. New York, NY: Academic Press.

Research on a theory of moral behavior which views norm violation as a product of personal and situational factors that facilitate the construction of situational definitions including accounts that excuse or justify this behavior. A portion of this theory was initially developed to explain how persons judge the moral conduct of others. It later was expanded to deal with how such judgements play a causal role in an individuals own moral transgressions. Currently it is being applied to an explanation of the decisions of juries. Two illustrative publications for this line of research are:

Backman, C.W. (1976). Exploration in psycho-ethics: The warranting of judgements. In R. Harré (Ed.), Life Sentences: Aspects of the Social Role of Language. London: Wiley.

Backman, C.W. (1985). Identity, self presentation and the resolution of moral dilemmas: Towards a social psychological theory of moral behavior. In B. Schlenker (Ed.), The Self and Social Life. New York, NY: McGraw Hill.

Publications other than those cited: Author or coauthor of six books and monographs, twenty five journal articles and book chapters, and numerous reviews.

Contact Info:
You can e-mail Dr. Backman at carlb@unr.nevada.edu.