401-737-0180

THE NATlONAL FOUNDATlON FOR
GlFTED AND CREATlVE CHlLDREN
395 DlAMOND HlLL ROAD
WARWICK, RHODE ISLAND 02886

"Those engaged in medical research on violence should keep in mind that their efforts will never touch on the core issues re- lating to violence in our society. While I do not doubt that there is more to be learned about offering help to individuals who seek therapy for violent tendencies, the perspectives which I have attempted to outline in this paper lead me to offer the medical violence researchers the following admonishments:

1. Accept no money from law enforcement agencies
2. Accept no money from pharmaceutical companies
3. Do not research on involuntary mental patients.
4. Do not research on prisoners.
5. Do not research on children that you would not allow your own children to undergo.
6. Do controlled studies to sort out myth from fact, keeping in mind the profound influence of phantasy, mythology and history as regards our thinking about violence.
7. Do not ignore the political implications of your work.
8. Think deeply on the profound implications of pre- dicting dangerousness, asking whether such efforts should ever be allowed to link up with the police efforts of the State.
9. Never become convinced that medical research will make a serious contribution to a non-violent society.
10. Use an absolute minimum of jargon and mystification, thereby encouraging the view that solutions to our violent society lie within all the people rather than any group of experts."

The above excerpts are from a paper, Perspectives on Medical Research and Violence presented by psychiatrist Lee Coleman at a recent Orthopsychiatric meeting, which examined the scientific and political ramifications of much current biomedical research. Coleman characterized attempts to link violence with psychomotor epilepsy, XXY chromosomes, hyperactivity and hormones as "the new phrenology" - an attempt to find "born criminals". Coleman discussed the therapies that result from these theories, such as psychosurgery, hormone treatment and the use of amphetamines with children. Predicting violence has inherent problems which have strong political, social and ethical overtones, he said, including the grave threat of preventive detention.

From: BEHAVIOR TODAY, May 6, 1974, Volume 5, Number 18, "Viewpoint" - Violence Research - The New Phrenology.