LETTER TO THE EDITOR

To the Editor:
I was unable to find references on your site that point to violent, punitive, authoritarian childrearing practices as precursors of subsequent criminality. You seem to have overlooked the work of Alice Miller, Murray Straus, Martin Tiecher, Bruce Perry, James Gilligan, Sheldon and Eleanore Glueck, Dorothy Otnow Lewis, Bruce Perry, Irwin Hyman, Eli H. Newberger, Philip Greven, Felicity de Zulueta and others whose work demonstrates how destructive parenting all too often sets the stage for later antisocial behaviors. A simple Web search on any of the above listed names will start you on the right track. Or a visit to http://nospank.net might help.... I suggest you fill in the gap.

Jordan Riak, Executive Director
Parents and Teachers Against Violence in Education

Editor's reply:
You are quite correct in observing that we have not cited the writings of any of the psychiatrists, psychologists, or other professionals you listed. This newsletter and its parent organization, the Wacker Foundation, were founded with a primary goal of trying to undo the harm done to millions of children, their families, and society for many decades by professionals who place sole blame on parents and society for causing criminal and delinquent behavior in children, while overlooking the demonstrably far greater role of biological factors.

It is abundantly clear from the research we report in Crime Times that biological factors-ranging from environmental toxins to genetic flaws, head injuries, infections, and nutritional deficiencies, to name just a sampling-play a powerful role in disordered, delinquent, and criminal behavior. Yet a recent Internet search of crime information on the Internet found, among almost 10,000 references, not a single mention of brain dysfunction. Crime Times exists to correct this glaring information gap by disseminating crucial information that can lead to real understanding and real treatments for individuals whose aberrant thinking and behavior stem from malfunctioning brains rather than from societal ills.

Incidentally, you will find Dorothy Otnow Lewis's book: Guilty by Reason of Insanity favorably reviewed in a past issue of Crime Times (1999, Vol. 5, No. 2, Page 4).