William Ryan (psychologist)

William J. Ryan, Jr. (c. 1924 – June 7, 2002) was a psychologist and author best known for his criticism of "blaming the victim" first published in his 1971 book of the same title. Ryan's work is considered a major structuralist rebuttal to the Moynihan Report.[1] Moynihan's report had placed most of the blame for African-American poverty rates on the rise of single-parent households rather than on racism and discrimination, while Ryan's response was that Moynihan was blaming victims for their victimhood. Ryan spent the majority of his career at Boston College.

William Ryan
Bornc. 1924
Died(2002-06-07)June 7, 2002
Boston, Massachusetts
Known forIdea of "Victim blaming"
Academic background
EducationBoston University
Academic work
DisciplinePsychologist
InstitutionsBoston College
Notable worksBlaming the Victim

Life and career

Ryan was raised in Everett, Massachusetts.[2] After joining the Army Air Corps during WWII, he received a PhD from Boston University in 1958.[3]

Ryan worked at the Yale School of Medicine and Harvard Medical School before arriving at Boston College, where he was Professor of Psychology from 1969 to 1998.[4]

Ryan married Phyllis Milgroom in 1951 and lived in Newton, Massachusetts. He died in a Boston hospital on June 7, 2002.[2][3]

Publications
  • Ryan, William (1969). Distress in the City: Essays on the Design and Administration of Urban Mental Health Services. Cleveland: Press of Case Western Reserve University. ISBN 978-0-8295-0149-0.
  • —— (1971). Blaming the Victim. New York: Pantheon. ISBN 978-0-85514-010-6., reissued in 1976
  • —— (1982). Equality. New York: Vintage Books. ISBN 978-0-394-71185-0.

Further reading
  • Lykes, M. Brinton; Banuazizi, Ali; Liem, Ramsay; Morris, Michael, eds. (1996). Myths about The Powerless: Contesting Social Inequalities. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. ISBN 978-1-56639-422-2. A volume dedicated to Ryan by his colleagues.

References
  1. Sanneh, Kelefa (9 February 2015). "Don't Be Like That". The New Yorker. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
  2. Long, Tom (11 June 2002). "William J. Ryan; Fought Bias Against the Poor, 78". Boston Globe.
  3. "William J. Ryan, 78, Sociologist; Explored the Blaming of Victims". The New York Times. 13 June 2002. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
  4. "Obituary; William Ryan, 78, of Boston, author, BC professor". Boston Herald. 9 June 2002.


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