Fromm is also a practicing psychoanalyst, and his political theories about social character are based on his perspective of human development. He argues that societies develop a character in the same way that individuals do and that they can be analyzed in much the same way. Fromm departs from Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalytic theory, in some important ways, however. His perspective reflects these important differences, which Fromm is careful to note in his book.