From pnews@igc.apc.org Ukn Jan 24 01:34:32 1993 Received: from totalrecall.rs.itd.umich.edu by css.itd.umich.edu (5.67/2.2) id AA28613; Sun, 24 Jan 93 01:34:30 -0500 Received: from log.css.itd.umich.edu by umich.edu (5.65/2.2) id AA07088; Sun, 24 Jan 93 01:34:29 -0500 Received: from redspread.css.itd.umich.edu by css.itd.umich.edu (5.67/2.2) id AA28608; Sun, 24 Jan 93 01:34:09 -0500 Received: from cdp.igc.org by redspread.css.itd.umich.edu (AA00302); Fri, 22 Jan 93 18:35:42 -0800 Received: by igc.apc.org (4.1/Revision: 1.56 ) id AA24198; Sat, 23 Jan 93 22:36:37 PST Date: Sat, 23 Jan 93 22:36:37 PST From: Hank Roth Message-Id: <9301240636.AA24198@igc.apc.org> To: radical@redspread.css.itd.umich.edu Subject: Violence Initiative Status: RO X-Status: /* Written 1:07 am Oct 31, 1992 by pnews@igc.apc.org in igc:p.news */ /* ---------- "Violence Initiative" ---------- */ From: Hank Roth Subject: Violence Initiative <<< via P_news >>> REPORT FROM THE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF PSYCHIATRY THE FEDERAL VIOLENCE INITIATIVE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Violence Initiative plans to identify at least 100,000 inner city children whose alleged biochemical and genetic defects will make them violent in later life. Treatment will consist of behavior modification in the Family, special "day camps," and drugs. For "political" reasons, the violence initiative will ignore environmental factors contributing to crime, as well as programs to alleviate conditions within the inner city. In presenting the vilence initiative to the National Mental Health Advisory Council on Feb. 11, 1992, Frederick Goodwin, the government's highest ranking psychiatrist, compared the inner city to a jungle that is going backward in evolution. He further compared inner city youth to rhesus monkeys who only want to kill each other, have sex and reproduce. His observations drew upon ongoing federal research comparing violent rhesus monkeys to problem children in regard to genetic factors, biochemical imbalances and drug treatment. According to Goodwin, the violence initiative will become fully operational in 1994 when it is presented to Congress as the government's number one mental health funding priority. In his May 5, 1992 address to the American Psychiatric Association, Goodwin provided further details. Elementary schools in :high impact urban areas" will implement the first stage of a "triage" system for identifying children suspected of potential violence in later life. Goodwin believes that children as young as two or three may be selected on the basis of "early irritability and uncooperativeness." An elementary school teacher will be expected to cull out 12-15% of each classroom for further psychiatric screening of the family via telephone with mental health officials. That the government has worked out the details is indicated by Goodwin's observation that school screening will cost 7 cents per pupil while the first telephone interview will cost 7 dollars. A third triage level will require "structured interviews" with the family. He does not address formal enforcement of these coercive procedures. Goodwin states that treatments will include teaching families how to implement behavior modification techniques. Day camps for older children from "very disruptive environments" are mentioned, as well as referrals to psychiatrists and neurologists. Genetic abnormalities and biochemical imbalances are again set forth as the major underlying causes of crime and violence. By itself, the proposed psychiatric screening of children is an unconstitutional federal encroachment upon the schools, the privacy rights and well-beling of children, and the integrity of the family. The current practice in which individual teachers may voluntarily choose to refer occasional students and families for help has already led to abusive practices, such as pressuring and forcing parents to drug their children with Ritalin. It has encouraged the massive psychiatric drugging of children. It is Orwellian, totalitarian and racist for the federal government to set up a massive screening program of all inner city children with the aim of winnowing out potential criminals for preventive treatment. NEtiher the screening net, the theories behind it, nor the proposed treatments have any scientific basis. The violence initiative is a politically-motiviated program aimed at inner city families. The school screening program will frighten children and intimidate their families. It will scapegoat children for America's problems and excuse society from facing the true causes of the crisis in the inner cities---such as racism, poverty, hunger, inadequate or non-existent health care, an oppressive welfare system, and the decline of the schools. The violence initiative will place a large portion of black children under psychiatric institutional control, adding them to the vast numbers (50% or more) of older youth and adults already subjected to the criminal justice system. The Justice Department's "Operation Weed and Seed" will incarcerate still more black men. From age 5 to 35, black children and young men will be subjected to institutional apartheid. While Goodwin does not focus on drug interventions, serotonergic biochemical imbalances in the brain and corrective drug therapy are the focus of federal research attention. Drugs are the only feasible mass intervention, corresponding with the needs of the pharmaceutical industry which is currently pushing these same drugs as their biggest money-makers. The Violence Initiative will create a vast "third world" market for proprietary drugs within America's inner cities. As a result of a national educational campaign by the Center, broadly supported by the African American community, the Federal government has come under heavy criticism. One result is the recent terminatin of federal funding for a conference entitled "Genetic Factors in Crime" at the University of Maryland, sponsored by NIH's Genome Project. As one of many ongoing projects, the conference was but the tip of the iceberg. Our concern is with the massive biomedical social control program planned for full funding by 1994. The violence program initiative is embedded in the federal bureaucracy and will not disappear on its own or through a change of administration. Dr. Goodwin's "demotion" to the directorship of NIMH was a sham, since he was always slated for the job. His racist attitudes and the violence initiative make him unfit for public service. NIMH, which Goodwin helped to degrade into a biopsychiatric institute, should be restored to a more healthy balance with renewed emphasis on psychosocial appraches. Dr. Louis Sullivan should terminate the violence initiative. The violence initiative ultimately puts children of all races in jeopardy. America's children are already subjected to too much psychiatry, with more than a million children, mostly boys, taking Ritalin, and tens of thousands being hopitalized. If the violence initiative is fully implemented, America's children will be subjected to increased psychiatric pressure. The schools, which already refer millions of children for psychiatric interventions, will become extensions of psychiatry and the pharmaceutical industry. We must honestly confront racism, the crisis of the inner cities, and the societal stresses placed on contemporary children. The vilence initiative distracts us from the real issues, exonerates society, and blames and further abuses minority groups and innocent children. It also threatens basis American values. We need renewed dedication to fulfilling the basic needs of children of all races through improving family life, the schools and society. Peter R. Breggin, M.D. Director, Center for the Study of Psychiatry 4628 Chestnut St., Bethesda, Ma 20814 (301) 652-5580 (CSP is a nonprofit research and education network concerned with the impact of psychiatry upon indivdual well-being, etc.) FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: On request, the Center will provide a detailed report and transcripts of two key speeches by Dr. Frederick Goodwin describing the violence initiative. Ask for the VIP pack and please include a $10 tax deductable contribution. If $10. is a hardship, you may send less or ask for the materials free. A critique of biopsychiatric theories and the abusive drugging of chilfen can be found in Dr. Breggin's book, TOXIC PSYCHIATRY (1991, St. Martin's Press). A description of the federal "Operation Weed and Seed" program can be obtained from the Justice Department by phone. Call (202) 514-3844.