Howard Paul Becker
Howard Paul Becker (1899-1960) was an influential American sociologist known for his historical perspective on social structures and transformations. Born in New York City, Becker had a tumultuous childhood marked by his father's controversial career as a police officer and subsequent execution for murder. Despite these early challenges and not finishing high school, he later excelled academically, earning degrees from Northwestern University and the University of Chicago.
Becker's scholarly work focused on the shift from religious to secular societies, particularly examining how this transformation unfolded in Europe and ancient Greece. His observations of Nazi Germany illustrated a reversal of this secularization, where a previously secular society adopted religious-like reverence for nationalist ideology. Throughout his career, he published several significant works, including "German Youth: Bond or Free" and "Through Values to Social Interpretation," and served as the president of the American Sociological Association. Becker's contributions to sociology, especially regarding the balance between sacred and secular influences in society, have continued to resonate within the field. He passed away in 1960, leaving behind a legacy that influences sociological thought to this day.
Subject Terms
Howard Paul Becker
American sociologist
- Born: December 9, 1899
- Birthplace: New York City, New York
- Died: June 8, 1960
- Place of death: Madison, Wisconsin
Education: Northwestern University; University of Cologne, Germany; University of Chicago
Significance: Howard Paul Becker was an American sociologist known for his work on the transformation of societies from the sacred to the secular. Becker was also named the president of the American Sociological Association shortly before his death in 1960.
Background
Howard Paul Becker was born on December 9, 1899, in New York City. His mother was Letitia Dickson and his father was Charles Becker, a New York City police officer. Charles Becker was a corrupt officer who reportedly ran an illegal casino with gambler Herman Rosenthal. After the two had a falling out, Rosenthal was murdered and Charles Becker was accused of orchestrating the crime. Charles Becker was found guilty and executed in the electric chair in 1915.
Letitia and Charles divorced shortly after their son's birth. Letitia later remarried Charles's brother, John Paul Becker. When Howard Becker was a child, John Paul Becker left home to find work as a prospector out west. Becker and his mother lived for a time in Ontario, Canada, until they joined John Paul Becker in Nevada in 1910. Seven years later, the family moved to South Bend, Indiana, where Becker worked with his stepfather at an automobile manufacturer. While working at several other automobile manufacturers, Becker began training as an industrial engineer.
Because of the upheaval in his young life, Becker was never able to finish high school. At age twenty-three, he completed a special entrance exam and was accepted to Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. He earned his bachelor of science degree in 1925 and his master of science degree a year later. While at Northwestern, Becker had taken part in a student-exchange program to Germany. After graduation, he returned to Germany to study at the University of Cologne.
In 1927, Becker entered the University of Chicago and earned a doctorate degree in sociology in 1930. He wrote his doctoral thesis on the secularization of ancient Greece. Becker was hired as a sociology instructor at the University of Pennsylvania in 1928. In 1931, he became an associate professor at Smith College in Massachusetts, and in 1937, he was named a full professor of sociology at the University of Wisconsin.
Life's Work
In 1934, Becker traveled to Europe as a member of the Social Science Research Council. During his stay, he spent time in Germany observing the effects of Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime on the nation's social structure. In 1938, Becker collaborated with American historian Harry Elmer Barnes on the book Social Thought from Lore to Science, an examination of European social thought in the 1930s and in history. Unlike many of the sociologists of his era, Becker incorporated a historical perspective into his study of human societies.
During World War II (1939–1945), Becker worked for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), a US spy agency that operated during the war. He was named leader of the agency's Morale Operations Unit and oversaw Operation Capricorn, a radio propaganda broadcast targeting the Germans. Becker remained in Europe after the war, working in higher education in Hesse, Germany. He returned to the University of Wisconsin in 1947. That same year, he was named president of the Midwest Sociological Society.
In 1946, Becker published the book German Youth: Bond or Free, a look at the youth movement in Germany under Hitler and the Nazis. In his 1950 collection of essays, Through Values to Social Interpretation, Becker challenged the way sociologists used scientific methods to perform research. In 1956, Becker published Man in Reciprocity: Introductory Lectures on Culture, Society and Personality, a series of essays and written lectures on topics ranging from social norms to studies of Scottish and German societies. Becker's writing style was noted for its colorful language and reflecting his distinct personality.
In 1960, Becker was named president of the American Sociological Association, the largest organization of sociologists in the United States and worldwide. However, soon after the appointment, Becker suffered a stroke. He died on June 8, 1960.
Impact
The majority of Becker's work examined the transformation of societies from sacred to secular. Sacred societies are governed by religious value systems that are considered natural and preordained. A secular society separates the state from religion. Becker's theories examined how societies in Europe and ancient Greece gradually shifted from religious-based social structures to a more secular-based structure. He was particularly interested in the balance between the two types of societies as the shift occurred.
Becker's work observing German society under Hitler helped him develop the theory that Nazi Germany was an example of the process in reverse. Becker found that Germany, a secular society before the 1930s, was manipulated into viewing Nazi symbols and ideology in a religious context. According to Becker, Hitler promoted the idea of the Fatherland as a new sacred order that was to guide the future of Germany.
Becker's theories have been referenced by other sociologists and became part of sociological thought into the twenty-first century. The University of Wisconsin-Madison maintains a collection of Becker's papers and other writings in the school library's archives.
Personal Life
Becker married fellow sociologist Francis Bennett in 1927. The couple had three children. One of those children, son Christopher Bennett Becker, read the presidential address his late father was to have presented to the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association in 1960. Christopher became a history professor, teaching at the University of Connecticut, Yale University, and Quinnipiac University.
Principal Works: Books
- Social Thought from Lore to Science (with Harry Elmer Barnes), 1938
- German Youth: Bond or Free, 1946
- Through Values to Social Interpretation: Essays on Social Contexts, Actions, Types, and Prospects, 1950
- Man in Reciprocity: Introductory Lectures on Culture, Society and Personality, 1956
Bibliography
Baker, Paul J. "Becker, Howard Paul." American National Biography, www.anb.org/view/10.1093/anb/9780198606697.001.0001/anb-9780198606697-e-1400973?rskey=1XkIVm&result=5. Accessed 26 Feb. 2018.
Barnes, Harry Elmer, and Frank E. Hartung. "In Memoriam: Howard Paul Becker: 1899–1960." University of Chicago Press Journals, November 1960, www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/222880. Accessed 26 Feb. 2018.
Burgess, Robert G., editor. Howard Becker on Education. Open U P, 1995.
"Howard P. Becker Papers, 1923–1960." University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries, search.library.wisc.edu/catalog/9955350693602122. Accessed 26 Feb. 2018.
"Howard Paul Becker." American Sociological Association, www.asanet.org/about-asa/asa-story/asa-history/past-asa-officers/past-asa-presidents/howard-p-becker. Accessed 26 Feb. 2018.
Lyon, Larry, and Robyn Driskell. "Howard P. Becker (1899–1960): Sacred/Secular." The Community in Urban Society, 2nd ed. Waveland P, 2012, pp. 22–3.
McFaul, Thomas R. "Running the Long Race." The Future of Truth and Freedom in the Global Village: Modernism and the Challenges of the Twenty-First Century. Praeger, 2010, pp. 7–28.
Roberts, Sam. "100 Years after a Murder, Questions about a Police Officer's Guilt." New York Times, 15 July 2012, cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/15/100-years-after-a-murder-questions-about-a-police-officers-guilt/. Accessed 26 Feb. 2018.