-Caveat Lector-
from: AMERICAN ATHEISTS
subject: AANEWS for April 25, 1999
A M E R I C A N A T H E I S T S
AANEWS
#562 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 4/25/99
http://www.atheists.org
ftp.atheists.org/pub/atheists/
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A Service of AMERICAN ATHEISTS
"For Reason and the First Amendment"
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In This Issue...
* Civil Liberties, Separation to be the "price of safety"?
* A different take on the violence question --
An interview with Dr. Tana Dineen
* Resources
* About this list...
TALKING HEADS TARGET SEPARATION, CIVIL LIBERTIES
Threats Of "Shame," Product Liabilities And Government Bullying
Characterize The Sunday Morning Discourse Over The Littleton, Colo.
Tragedy
Pat Buchanan, Bill Bennett and the rest of the Sunday morning crew on
the NBC program "Meet The Press" don't have much use for the
Constitution in the aftermath of last week's tragic shootings at a
Littleton, Colorado high school. The two field commanders in the
religious right's "culture wars" were joined by Sen. Joseph Lieberman
(D-Conn.), Tipper Gore, Attorney General Janet Reno, British Prime
Minister Tony Blair, and child psychologist James Garbarino, author of
the book "Lost Boys" and a fast-rising star on network programs
articulating the supposed causes of senseless violence.
Of particular note was the hostility which Buchanan, Lieberman and
especially Garbarino displayed toward contemporary American society,
which all three men portrayed as the equivalent of a nation in moral
crisis. Participants gave their opinions on the Kosovo crisis, a
topic which provided a weird synchronicity for the next topic of
discussion -- the violence in Colorado. Buchanan and Lieberman
exchanged barbs over the question of armed intervention, but when the
subject shifted from foreign to domestic policy -- "kids killing kids"
-- there was a sudden convergence of opinion. Analyses and proposed
solutions were chilling in the extreme.
Tipper Gore, wife of Vice President Al Gore, was one of the first
culture mavens to sound the alarm over the content of musical lyrics
when she helped to form the Parents' Resource Music Center, and wrote
the book "Raising PG Kids In An X-Rated Society." Her thoughts on the
Littleton incident consisted primarily of sweeping generalizations
concerning the alleged causal links between "violent entertainment"
and actual incidents of violence, and cliches such as "We got to step
up to the plate here. This is a wake up call..." Gore stopped short
of calling for censorship and government intervention concerning
"violent" of offensive books, cassettes, videos, lyrics and other
cultural materials, though, suggesting that communities "organize
themselves" to ask youngsters questions. Gore also adroitly
sidestepped direct questions about companies such as Viacom, the
entertainment conglomerate which owns MTV and Warner Brothers, and
which distributed the film "Natural Born Killers" -- one of several
movies now under attack by media commentators and professional
"experts" as a possible causative factor in youth violence. Gore
again echoed her refrain that all of this was a "wake up call from our
kids..."
Sen. Joseph Lieberman, a cofounder with Bill Bennett of the Empower
America group, was more direct in demanding that government enter the
culture fray. When asked by host Tim Russert if he supported a White
House summit of entertainment industry CEO's on the question of media
violence, he termed the suggestion "a very constructive and important
step for the president, the vice president, indeed for the bipartisan
leadership in Congress..." There was no discussion, though, of
companies -- including small producers -- who might refuse such a
summit "invitation," or break ranks with government "guidelines"
regarding the content of films, lyrics or other forms of
communication. Next, Russert asked Bill Bennett, former Secretary of
Education and now one of the foremost religious conservative culture
gurus, about gun control, and the possibility of "control on the
internet," or putting an end to the sale of video games and music
videos to kids. Oddly, Bennett said that he had "no objection to
looking at all those fronts."
Bennett was first to employ metaphors comparing violent movies to
tobacco. He proposed that entertainment companies be grilled with
"very hard questions" and singled out "you know, the Levines, the
Bronfmans, the people who run Viacom." He then leaped into the
religious agenda, discussing the alleged "Trench Coat Mafia," the
affinity group of students from Columbine High School linked to the
shooting.
"If these kids were walking around that school in black trench coats,
saying 'Heil Hitler,' why didn't somebody pay attention? I guarantee
you if little Cassie Burnow, the little girl who was asked, 'Do you
believe in God?' and she said, 'Yes,' and was then blown away -- if
she and her friends had been walking through that school carrying
Bibles, and saying, you know, 'Hail the Prince of Peace, King of
Kings,' they would have been hauled into the principal's office."
Conversation became more incendiary when Dr. James Garbarino spoke
up; a child psychologist at Cornell University, Garbarino has recently
authored the book "Lost Boys: Why Do Our Sons Turn Violent And How We
Can Save Them," and has emerged as a "faith and values" advocate. In
addition, he has put forth some of the most disturbing proposals for
dealing with the alleged epidemic of youth violence, and frequently
employs terms such as "toxic" in describing the cultural climate. He
has also pushed the limits of hyperbole, declaring "Parental smoking
is child abuse," and speaks for the need to use product liability laws
and environmental anti-pollution statutes as a way of bringing legal
action against offensive media providers. Garbarino has garnered
considerable media exposure due to the Littleton shootings.
He described youngsters who turn violent as 'disconnected," adding
"They also often exhibit a kind of spiritual emptiness which leaves a
void." Garbarino then charged into his favorite them of comparing
certain human behaviors with "epidemics" and "pollution."
When asked about the "bad seed" theory of child behavior, Garbarino
recalled his days as Father Flanigan's Boys Town, gushing "There's no
such thing as a bad boy. There are difficult boys..."
Radio commentator and presidential candidate Pat Buchanan then chimed
in, seizing the rhetorical baton from Garbarino and comparing
"polluters who were putting poison and filth" into a river with "the
entertainment industry who poison our culture and pollute our culture
from which everyone has to drink."
"The fundamental problem is the poisoning of our culture," Buchanan
opined, adding to his list of problems "that God and the Ten
Commandments and Christian instruction and all moral teaching had been
removed from these public schools, and into that vacuum has gone the
law of Satan."
Tim Russert then read his guests some lyrics from a Marilyn Manson
song which included references to guns. "We have a First Amendment,"
he added, then asked the panelists for their ideas on reconciling the
two. Garbarino mentioned product liability and pollution laws, and
the need to "protect and nurture children," but did not directly
address the civil liberties aspect. Bennett then cited the "costs of
bad parenting," and praised his wife who last year, during a trip to
the beach happened to see three youngsters wearing T-shirts with
skulls and the caption "We love death," and verbally accosted the
children. "When it comes to your kids," said Bennett, "you know,
don't mind your own business. Mind their business."
Unable to control his enthusiasm for the topic, Buchanan again chimed
in citing the Southern Baptist Convention boycott of "anti-religious
themes that they found on television." He called for boycotts of
corporations "that produce this kind of garbage and filth."
"Let's shame them. Let's shame them," interrupted Bennett.
Sen. Lieberman supported Bennett in this endeavor, mentioning the
game Doom, Marilyn Manson and movies such as "Basketball Diaries" and
"Natural Born Killers."
Without citing his own role in this insidious process, Lieberman
added, "We're coming dangerously close in the entertainment industry,
much as we prize our liberties, to the point where they're going to
invite legal restrictions on their freedom because they're beginning
to yell 'fire' in a crowded theater when there is no fire and they're
going to be held accountable."
Analysis: "Epidemics," "Emergencies" As Attacks
On Civil Liberties...
Like a modern day Reichstag fire, the claim by religious right culture
warriors and their political allies (both right and left) that America
is in the midst of an "epidemic" of violence is the latest excuse to
undermine civil liberties, free expression, and, of course, the
separation of church and state. Parallels with the 1950s cold war
hysteria should not be ignored; in that decade, a slew of legislative
proposals to combat "godless communism" were hastily enacted. The
wording of the Pledge of Allegiance was altered to include a reference
to "One Nation Under God," and belief in a supernatural deity became a
litmus test of political worthiness and personal wholesomeness. But
in the wake of the cold war and the "fall of the wall," Marilyn
Manson, the fictitious characters in video games, and American
youngsters sporting a "Goth" fashion look, have replaced Lenin and
Stalin as the great enemies of Christian civilization. Now, the fact
that a small handful of disturbed students -- 2 thus far in Colorado,
a minuscule number that perhaps accounts for the media fixation in
finding accomplices -- is becoming the new reason for why religious
ritual must be put back in the public schools, or why police, parents,
school authorities and, yes, even students themselves must be enlisted
in the service of a new "snitch" culture to monitor personal
behaviors.
Hyperbolic descriptions, metaphorical mixing -- which Dr. James
Garbarino is developing to a fine art with his constant refrain
against "pollution" and "toxic" culture -- and sheer demagoguery seem
to dominant the media discourse about the Colorado shootings. Facts,
and constitutional guarantees of free expression (even for Marilyn
Manson and Viacom), are quickly becoming secondary considerations.
Garbarino is at least blatantly honest; Lieberman, Bennett and
Buchanan continue to flirt with a call for overt government censorship
and culture control by instead proposing the "shame" game.
**
SPEAKING OUT: DR. TANA DINEEN CHALLENGES THE MYTHOLOGY
OF THE LITTLETON, COLORADO SHOOTINGS -- AND MORE!
One of the most skeptical critics of modern psychological theory and
practice is Dr. Tana Dineen, author of "Manufacturing Victims: What
the Psychology Industry Is Doing to People" (Robert Davies Publishing,
1996). She is a leading critic of bogus "repressed memories," a
hypnotic and therapeutic technique which is often used to support
unverified claims of everything from ritual Satanic child abuse to
UFO-alien abductions.
"In many ways it becomes an enthralling dance of the patient and
therapist, each responding to the moves and sways of the other and
each believing that they are getting somewhere together..."
Dineen is also critical of what she labels the "Psychology industry,"
particularly the tendency of professionals in her field to made
grandiose claims of discovering workable therapeutic models which are
then, essentially, marketed and "sold" to the public. She cites the
armies of "crisis counselors" who now descend on every human tragedy,
offering people psychological sustenance but in fact operating on
questionable premises.
Dr. Dineen holds an Honours B.S. from McGill University, and a
Masters and Doctoral Degree (1975) from the University of
Saskatchewan. She is a member the American Psychological Association
and the Canadian Psychological Association. From 1977 to 1981, she
worked as Treatment Director of a major psychiatric facility,
establishing specialized programs, including an assessment ward for
the investigation of complex diagnostic questions. She is the author
of numerous articles including "Blaming the Boys: A Feminist Fallacy"
and "Enemy Making: The Psychology of Propaganda." Her writings have
appeared in the False Memory Syndrome Foundation Newsletter, Skeptic
Magazine (November, 1998) and elsewhere. Dineen also writes a regular
psychology column for the Ottawa Citizen newspaper. She spoke to
AANEWS from her home in Vancouver.
AA: Many claims are being made about the alleged link between violent
films, video games and even music to the shootings in Colorado. Is
this fair?
DINEEN: I don't think so, and I consider it all to be an inappropriate
analogy. We don't have any good evidence whatsoever showing links
between particular forms of films or music to what people do and how
they behave. We're into fingerpointing instead, trying to find cause
and effect and being able to explain every out-of-the-ordinary act. I
don't know this is becoming so widespread, maybe America is becoming a
controlling culture.
AA: Commentators like Dr. James Garbarino are using terms like
"pollution"and "toxic" to describe much of the contemporary youth
culture. What's your reaction to this?
DINEEN: Well, again, I think it's just inappropriate. I've been
thinking a lot about how different generations look at one another,
how one generation looks at the one before. For instance, back in the
1960s and early 1970s, people were concerned about the hippies and the
"out of control" culture that it involved. I think it's true about
the situation today where subcultures are being targeted. We seem to
have lost sight of the fact that people can be interested in things
without being evil.
AA: Elaine Showalter in her book, "Hystories: Hysterical Epidemics and
Modern Media" (N.Y., Columbia University Press, 1997) claims that many
artifacts of popular culture such as "ritual Satanic abuse" lack
grounding in the facts. Could this same sort of thing be going on
today in the aftermath of the Littleton shootings?
DINEEN: Yes. Remember, these are only assertions people are making.
I'm one of the skeptics who says "show me the evidence!," and I
haven't seen any causal evidence and good studies which manages to
link all of this. What about all of these other kids who are part of
a targeted subculture who don't do any of this?
A lot of the statements talking about violence in the media are
incredibly simplistic. There simply isn't any good direct
cause-and-effect relationship that has been found. We're so
accustomed to saying "this causes that." I've got a whole file of
newspaper articles about this sort of thing, like a study
demonstrating that eating hot dogs causes leukemia. It's easy to do a
study and pick up whatever correlates, or look for a cause. We simply
don't have any good research that conclusively demonstrates the kinds
of connections some people are saying exists.
AA: Studies suggest that overall violence, including juvenile crime,
is declining. Yet, large numbers of parents perceive the schools as
"toxic" and dangerous places. Why the discrepancy?
DINEEN: I think there are a number of reasons. Certainly violence and
dramatic violent events generate news (we don't hear about peaceful
schools), so it hits our awareness. We even have the President of the
United States telling us "This could happen anywhere," so people get
scared.
I also have to point the finger here at my own profession. There's a
term in advertising, "Fear appeal," that is used to sell fire alarms.
Psychologists go around selling counseling services in a similar way,
like services to identify "signs" of potential violent behavior.
These are all products that are up for sale.
There is no way to really identify signs of troubled youth. If you
look at trained psychologists and counselors who say they can find
early warning signs, there is no indications that the checklists they
put together are any good. I'm not saying that we should avoid
specific threats, these are bits of specific information. A kid
carrying a gun to school is a definite threat, but I'm skeptical of
these "early warning signs," like youth wearing black clothing, or
liking a particular kind of music. It's an absurd idea, it's likely
to make us all very paranoid and become frightened. It will lead to
intolerance and stereotyping, too.
AA: What about the call to "put god" and religion back in schools?
DINEEN: That strikes me as a bit opportunistic. It might be a good
idea to put moral values and compassion back in schools, but is
opportunistic to say that if we "put god" back in schools we're
somehow going to prevent violence. Incidentally, I've accused my own
profession of becoming like a rigid religion. I don't think we should
be selling religion as a solution to social problems.
AA: Has the news media overreacted to the events at Columbine High
School?
DINEEN: I think there are a couple of things going on. In the
beginning, there was new, real news of a violent event, a tragedy. In
reporting that, the media is doing something appropriate. I think
that as soon as it is reported, though, the media doesn't have a lot
to talk about, and then tries to churn up more news. You get
pseudo-experts claiming that they knew what was going on in the heads
of these kids, or what needs to be done. Covering that is
irresponsible.
It reminds me of the crash of Swissair Flight 111 in September of
1998. 229 people were killed, but after covering the crash, the media
started talking about everyone who was related to this story,
including the divers looking for bodies near the beach. The real
victims were the dead, but soon all of these other people who were
remotely connected to the case, including residents of Peggy's Cove
were being described as "victims."
I think that we spread the concept of who victims are, whether it's
kids in school, family members or even neighbors who supposedly need
help. Then we tell them that they need counseling to get through the
grieving process and recover from trauma. This is something that gets
sold to people, and it has no basis in truth whatsoever. I have a
colleague who speaks of "trauma tourism." And I think there is a lot
of money being made coming up with programs and ideas that claim they
can prevent violence or deal with other problems.
AA: You cite the work of Dr. Neil Boyd, Professor of criminology at
Simon Fraser University, who says that "identifying kids at risk and
providing counseling for them does not work" This is certainly at odds
with what we're being told...
DINEEN. Of course, but while there is a lot of "research literature,"
there simply is not a single longitudinal study that says if you put a
particular kind of counseling in place and look back in ten or twenty
years, we're going to be able to raise kids who are nonviolent and
peaceloving and able to resolve personal problems. The kinds of
studies out there, though, tell us that this counseling makes people
feel better, they're satisfied customers, and everyone including the
counselors thinks they did a good job. There's one study I mention in
my book, the Summerville study, that look at what happened over time
and involved kids who received counseling. What was found, if you do
follow-up is that in the beginning counselors thought they were
effective and said they did a lot of good; but what was discovered was
that these kids who got counseling actually ended up committing more
crimes. Why? There may be forms of counseling that get people to
blame others rather than accept responsibility for themselves.
I'll admit that I don't have a lot of solutions for dealing with
problem teens. I'm the person who raises the questions. I know that
we want to do things to help youngsters, but we just don't have tested
therapeutic solutions to every problems. I'm not saying that it's
impossible to help, either. But there is no profession including
modern counseling that has a "package" of services and products that
is going to do the job.
**
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