Books by Jonathan B. Imber

Originally published in 1986, Abortion and the Private Practice of Medicine was the first book to look at abortion from the perspective of physicians in private practice. Jonathan B.

The examination of the relationship of economic activity to other important aspects of human life and social behavior has inspired some of the most interesting and provocative social-scientific research in the past one hundred years

At a time when boundaries between the nonprofit, business, and public sectors have grown increasingly confused and contested, this volume by leading experts on nonprofit organizations offers new ideas and frameworks for understanding the terrain that lies between the state and the market

For nearly half a century, social scientists have made claims that there is a "therapeutic ethos" with extensive influence upon numerous aspects of American society

For more than a century, the American medical profession insisted that doctors be rigorously trained in medical science and dedicated to professional ethics. Patients revered their doctors as representatives of a sacred vocation. Do we still trust doctors with the same conviction? In Trusting Doctors, Jonathan Imber attributes the development of patients' faith in doctors to the inspiration and influence of Protestant and Catholic clergymen during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He explains that as the influence of clergymen waned, and as reliance on medical technology increased, patients' trust in doctors steadily declined. Trusting Doctors discusses the emphasis that Protestant clergymen placed on the physician's vocation; the focus that Catholic moralists put on specific dilemmas faced in daily medical practice; and the loss of unchallenged authority experienced by doctors after World War II, when practitioners became valued for their technical competence rather than their personal integrity. Imber shows how the clergy gradually lost their impact in defining the physician's moral character, and how vocal critics of medicine contributed to a decline in patient confidence. The author argues that as modern medicine becomes defined by specialization, rapid medical advance, profit-driven industry, and ever more anxious patients, the future for a renewed trust in doctors will be confronted by even greater challenges. Trusting Doctors provides valuable insights into the religious underpinnings of the doctor-patient relationship and raises critical questions about the ultimate place of the medical profession in American life and culture.

At a time when boundaries between the nonprofit, business, and public sectors have grown increasingly confused and contested, this work on non-profit organizations offers frameworks for understanding the terrain that lies between the state and the market.

The examination of the relationship of economic activity to other aspects of human life and social behavior has inspired some of the provocative social-scientific research. This book of original essays offers insights into questions about how modern and modernizing market economies are both shaped by and shapers of morality, values, and religion.

For nearly half a century, social scientists have made claims that there is a "therapeutic ethos" with extensive influence upon numerous aspects of American society. In 'Therapeutic Culture', 12 authors address the implications of this ethos and its effects on a wide range of social institutions.

The communication to the larger public of what scientists do and know is a problem inherent to all democratic societies. Here, contributors offer ways of thinking about how the rhetoric and practice of science operates in various institutional contexts.