In terms of a dialectical model, the person-situation context is viewed as inseparable and necessarily interdependent. The very diagnostic categories used in the profession are as subject to the zeit geist as are the character structure and behavior of the individual. The evolving diagnostic categories as codified in the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders III" (1980 unpublished) reflect the changing nature of character structure as compared to the 1952 or 1968 editions. Character structure, defense operations, and diagnostic categories need to be viewed systematically. Diagnostic categories need to take and everchanging contributions of psychological and social (role and and overchanging contributions of psychological and social (role and system) determinants of inter-personal behavior. Theories of personality and explanation of behavior formulated in other societies and under conditions unlike those of today, give a point of departure for applying the knowledge of the current societal norms, inter-personal contexts, and intra-psychic processes before giving a diagnosis. (Author)