Roscoe C. Hinkle is Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the Ohio State University. He is the author of Founding Theory of American Sociology, 1881–1915.

"This topic is significant. Although there are a number of books available on the Chicago school of sociology, the Hinkle book is much more comprehensive and thorough in dealing with the state of American sociological theory between the great wars. It also has the virtue of examining the influences of other academic disciplines on the development of American sociology which no other book does at present." — Ellsworth R. Furman, Professor of Sociology, and Science and Technology Studies, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

• Preface Acknowledgments Part I: Orientation 1. Confronting Problems in the Study of Theory in American Sociology (1915/18-1945/50) 2. Three Epistemological-Methodological Stances Part II: Continuities (With First-Period Theory) 3. Social Evolutionism, Social Origins, and Social Structure 4. Critique of Earlier Social Evolutionism and Its Legacy in the Second Period 5. Fragmentation and Demise of Social Evolutionary Change Theories Part III: Discontinuities (in Relation to First Period Theory) 6. Discontinuities Arising within American Sociology 7. Theory, Anthropology, and History 8. Theory, Psychiatry, and Psychology 9. Philosophy, Psychology, Sociology, and Symbolic Interactionism 10. Possible European Influences on American Theory Part IV: Summary Retrospective and Prospective 11. The Concept of the Group: An Analytical Summary 12. An Overview in Context: Past, Present, and Future Appendix Notes Selected Reference List Index