Public Opinion Quarterly 12:280-315 (1948)
© 1948 American Association for Public Opinion Research
Cohesion and Disintegration in the Wehrmacht in World War II
Professor Shils is a member of the faculty of the University of Chicago and of the London School of Economics. Dr. Janowitz also teaches at the University of Chicago. During the war, both served in the Intelligence Section of the Psychological Warfare Division of SHAEF.
The title of this article may suggest to some that it is of interst only to the student of military affairs. But it is of a far wider scope. The Public relations expert, the opinion analyst, the propagandist, the educator, and all those who are interested in relating attitudes to the psychology of the individual and the structure of the group will find it deserving of close attention. For the authors, in attempting to determine why the German Army in World War II fought so stub-bornly to the end, have made an intensive study of the social structure of this army, of the symbols to which it responded, of the Nazi attempts to bolster its morale, and the Allied attempts to break it down. They have found a key to many of the behavior and attitude patterns of the individual infantryman in the interpersonal relationships within the company—his primary group. His relationship to this primary group goes far to explain why he reponds to one appeal and not to another, why he fights, and why he surrenders. This study thus provides an example of the sociological and psychological analysis which the propagandist must make if he is to obtain maximal response to his communications.
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  G. L. Siebold Book Review: Pipping, K. (1947/2008). Infantry Company as a Society (Publication Series 1, No. 3/2008), edited and translated by P. Kekale. Helsinki, Finland: Department of Behavioural Sciences, National Defence University Armed Forces & Society, January 1, 2010; 36(2): 387 - 390. [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
D. R. Segal and M. G. Ender Sociology in Military Officer Education Armed Forces & Society, October 1, 2008; 35(1): 3 - 15. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 N. Greenberg, A. Iversen, L. Hull, D. Bland, and S. Wessely Getting a peace of the action: measures of post traumatic stress in UK military peacekeepers J R Soc Med, February 1, 2008; 101(2): 78 - 84. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
G. L. Siebold The Essence of Military Group Cohesion Armed Forces & Society, January 1, 2007; 33(2): 286 - 295. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 J. Pooley Fifteen Pages that Shook the Field: Personal Influence, Edward Shils, and the Remembered History of Mass Communication Research The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, November 1, 2006; 608(1): 130 - 156. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
D. R. Herspring Undermining Combat Readiness in the Russian Military, 1992-2005 Armed Forces & Society, July 1, 2006; 32(4): 513 - 531. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
R. J. MacCoun, E. Kier, and A. Belkin Does Social Cohesion Determine Motivation in Combat?: An Old Question with an Old Answer Armed Forces & Society, July 1, 2006; 32(4): 646 - 654. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
L. Wong Combat Motivation in Today's Soldiers: U.S. Army War College Strategic Studies Institute Armed Forces & Society, July 1, 2006; 32(4): 659 - 663. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
U. Ben-Shalom, Z. Lehrer, and E. Ben-Ari Cohesion during Military Operations: A Field Study on Combat Units in the Al-Aqsa Intifada Armed Forces & Society, October 1, 2005; 32(1): 63 - 79. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 S. WESSELY Risk, psychiatry and the military The British Journal of Psychiatry, June 1, 2005; 186(6): 459 - 466. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
S. WESSELY War stories: Invited commentary on... Documented combat exposure of US veterans seeking treatment for combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder The British Journal of Psychiatry, June 1, 2005; 186(6): 473 - 475. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 H. Shah Communication and Nation Building: Comparing US Models of Ethnic Assimilation and `Third World' Modernization International Communication Gazette, April 1, 2003; 65(2): 165 - 181. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 G. Harries-Jenkins Women in Extended Roles in the Military: Legal Issues Current Sociology, September 1, 2002; 50(5): 745 - 769. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 S.-W. Kim, J. L. Price, C. W. Mueller, and T. W. Watson The Determinants of Career Intent Among Physicians at a U.S. Air Force Hospital Human Relations, July 1, 1996; 49(7): 947 - 976. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 A. Lingis The Postmodern Economic High-Growth Society Theory Culture Society, February 1, 1994; 11(1): 171 - 187.
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 M. Hazani Prevention of Delinquency Through Repentance: An Ethnographic Study in a Jerusalem Slum Small Group Research, February 1, 1987; 18(1): 82 - 98. [Abstract]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 E. Litwak Complementary Roles for Formal and Informal Support Groups: A Study of Nursing Homes and Mortality Rates Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, October 1, 1985; 21(4): 407 - 425. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 M. Lodge and J. C. Wahlke Politicos, Apoliticals, and the Processing of Political Information International Political Science Review/ Revue internationale de science pol, January 1, 1982; 3(1): 131 - 160. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bibliography Current Sociology, December 1, 1981; 29(3): 83 - 164.
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 R. A. Peterson and H. G. White Elements of Simplex Structure Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, April 1, 1981; 10(1): 3 - 24.
|
|
|
|
|
|
P. Blunt Bureaucracy and Ethnicty in Kenya: Some Conjectures for the Eighties Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, July 1, 1980; 16(3): 336 - 353. [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 T. Baumgartner, W. Buckley, and T. Burns Relational Control: The Human Structuring of Cooperation and Conflict Journal of Conflict Resolution, September 1, 1975; 19(3): 417 - 440. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 T.J. Scheff Intersubjectivity and Emotion American Behavioral Scientist, March 1, 1973; 16(4): 501 - 511.
|
|
|
|
|
|
P. C. Rosenblatt Origins and effects of group ethnocentrism and nationalism Journal of Conflict Resolution, June 1, 1964; 8(2): 131 - 146. [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
M. Mulder and A. Stemerding Threat, Attraction to Group, and Need for Strong Leadership: A Laboratory Experiment in a Natural Setting Human Relations, November 1, 1963; 16(4): 317 - 334. [PDF]
|
|