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Morris Janowitz

JANOWITZ, MORRIS (1919–1988), U.S. sociologist. Born in Paterson, New Jersey, Janowitz worked for the U.S. government in various capacities and taught at the universities of Chicago and Michigan. He was especially interested in studies of prejudice, public opinion, and the military establishment. He published Dynamics of Prejudice (with Bruno Bettelheim, 1950); The Community Press in an Urban Setting (1952); Reader in Public Opinion and Communication (with Bernard R. Berelson, 19532); Comparative Study of Juvenile Correctional Institutions (1961); Community Political Systems (1961); and Social Change and Prejudice (with Bruno Bettelheim, 1964). The prejudice studies have a bearing on the understanding of antisemitism as part of a general pattern of prejudicial attitudes. Janowitz's reputation, however, rests chiefly with his pioneering works in the analysis of the organizational structure of the military establishment. His major publications in this field are Sociology and the Military Establishment (1959); The Military in the Political Development of New Nations (1964); and especially The Professional Soldier (1960), in which he describes the professional life, organizational setting, and leadership of the American armed forces as it developed in the 20th century. He attempts to show how technological changes have brought about changes in the military, and that the role of the military leader must change accordingly. He concludes that devices, once designed to wage war, must now be used to ensure and maintain peace.

Later books by Janowitz include Community Press in an Urban Setting (1967), Institution Building in Urban Education (1969), Political Conflict (1970), On Military Intervention (1971), Military Institutions and Coercion in the Developing Nations (1977), The Last Half-Century: Societal Change and Politics in America (1978), Military Conflict (1978), Social Control of the Welfare State (1980), and The Reconstruction of Patriotism (1983).

ADD. BIBLIOGRAPHY:

G. Suttles and M. Zald, The Challenge of Social Control: Citizenship and Institution Building in Modern Society. Essays in Honor of Morris Janowitz (1986); M. Martin, The Military, Militarism, and the Polity: Essays in Honor of Morris Janowitz (1984).


Sources: Encyclopaedia Judaica. © 2007 The Gale Group. All Rights Reserved.