Providentia

The Colorado Cannibal

Legend has it that when Judge Melville B. Gerry handed down a death sentence on Alferd Packer, he used these words, "There was seven Democrats in Hinsdale Country but you, you voracious man-eatin' son of a bitch, you ate five of them. I sentence you to be hanged ... as a warning against reducing the Democratic population of this state". According to the actual trial records, Judge Gerry was more succinct (and apolitical) in his death sentence, stressing that Packer would be "hung by the neck until you are dead, dead, dead!".

If Judge Gerry was upset with Alf Packer, he was hardly the only one. As the sole survivor of a six-man prospecting expedition that had become snow-bound in the Colorado Rockies in 1874, Packer's story was that one of the other prospectors, Shannon Bell, had gone mad and killed the others before Packer killed him in self-defense. The fact that Packer admitted to cannibalism, had changed his story several times, and had money belonging to the other prospectors with him when he was arrested counted against him, though. While in custody awaiting a hearing, Packer escaped from jail (nobody ever found out how) and spent nearly nine years on the run before being rearrested. In the meantime, the bodies of the other prospectors had been found with evidence that they had been bludgeoned to death.

On March 14, 1883, Alf Packer was arrested at Wagonhound Creek where he had been living under the name of John Schwartze. Since cannibalism isn't actually a crime in most states (only Idaho has an actual law against it on the books), Packer/Schwartze went on trial for murder. Despite his own account of killing Bell in self-defense, neither the jury or Judge Gerry found his version of events credible and Packer received a death sentence. Given the amount of public hatred directed against him, authorities arranged for him to be transferred to another jail to avoid possible lynch mobs and the execution was stayed.

It's hard to understand why Packer was so hated since accounts of cannibalism weren't all that rare. Given the brutal winters found in that part of the country and the tendency of isolated groups to be snowbound for months, desperate measures were often needed to avoid starvation (much like the famous Donner party of the 1840s). Local and national newspapers certainly played a role in shaping the way that the public viewed Packer (one described him as a "Human Ghoul who Murdered and Grew Corpulent on the Flesh of his Comrades").

While Packer was awaiting execution, the legal wrangling dragged out for years. One lawyer pointed out that Colorado was still at territory when the crime occurred and argued that the murders were not illegal at the time under territorial law. The Colorado Supreme Court overturned the murder conviction although Packer was later tried and convicted of five counts of manslaughter. He was sentenced for forty years in the state penitentiary at Canon City.

Not that the story ended there. A model inmate in prison, Alf Packer (aka "Prisoner 1389") became the focus of numerous legal appeals and applications for pardons by a string of attorneys. The "Free Packer" movement gained its greatest champion in Polly Pry, a columnist for the Denver Post, who wrote numerous columns on Packer's "unjust" imprisonment. Pry's crusade was directed at Colorado governor, Charles S. Thomas who finally gave in and ordered Packer to be paroled as his last official act before leaving office on January 1, 1901.

After his release, Alf Packer worked as a security guard at the offices of the Denver Post. Growing tired of city life and suffering from Bright's Disease (he had been diagnosed in prison), he moved back to Colorado and spent the last years of his life as a mine caretaker. Despite his notoriety, Packer was a favourite with the local children and he often regaled them with stories about the Old West (they just considered him to be a "nice old man"). His liver problems worsened and a state game warden found him unconscious near his home in 1906. He spent the last few months of his life as an invalid although he wrote a letter to the governor pleading for a full pardon (it wasn't granted). Alf Packer died on April 24, 1907. According to one local news story, his last words were, "I am not guilty of the charge". The cause of death was believed to be a stroke although his death certificate listed his condition as "senility - trouble & worry". He is buried in the Prince Avenue cemetery in Littleton, Colorado at government expense (he was a veteran) and his gravesite has attracted thousands of visitors over the years.

The actual debate over Packer's guilt dragged on for decades after his death (requests for a pardon were repeatedly denied).In 1989, the case became news again when a team of forensic scientists, led by James Starr of George Washington University, unearthed the bodies of Packer's fellow prospectors (the place where they had been buried is still known as Cannibalism Plateau in Colorado). After a forensic analysis of the bodies, Starr concluded that Packer had lied about killing Bell in self-defense and that Alf Packer was "as guilty as sin and all his sins were mortal ones".

Later forensic disputed Starr's conclusions and one determined curator, David Bailey, launched his own project to prove Packer's innocence based on a rusted Colt revolver believed to have been used by Packer to kill Shannon Bell in self-defense. In an amazing feat of forensic science, the fragments of a lead bullet found at the death scene were matched to Packer's revolver. Although the research is ongoing, the question of Alf Packer's guilt seems unlikely to be resolved.

In the meantime, Alf Packer has found his way into American folklore. Not only is he an unofficial mascot of the University of Colorado (the student cafeteria was named after him) but his bust is still on display in the Colorado state capital building. He's been the subject of several movies and musicals as well as a semi-humourous Alferd Packer Society (their motto is "serving our fellow man since 1874"). Lake City, Colorado still has an annual celebration of the Packer story and the local tourism based on Packer's cannibalism tends to be popular (not to mention macabre).

The Alf Packer legend lives on.

When Families Are Homeless

The July 2009 issue of American Journal of Orthopsychiatry presents a special issue on the complex issue of parenting and homelessness.  Families are the fastest-growing segment of the homeless population and now make up more than one-third of the overall number of homeless people.  The epidemic of family homelessness has been linked to the current economic crisis, skyrocketing foreclosure rates, and failure of social service agencies to accommodate family needs.  There is a tendency to define homeless families only in terms of family members who present at shelters and other service programs with their children,  often only a single parent—most often a mother—with one or more children, 42% of whom are less than six years old.   Many of the homeless men and women who enter shelters as individuals are also parents who, for various reasons, are not currently in possession of their children.  Family composition may also change over time, as the structures of homeless family units are fluid due to the high rates of separations of family members who are homeless.   Social agencies dealing with the homeless often ignore the broader context of the nontraditional family system and support networks that homeless people need (including providing basic necessities for their children).  Homeless parents frequently face stigma and discrimination because of their homelessness status. Mothers who are homeless describe feeling that their parenting practices are being monitored closely; if not viewed as adequate, they risk losing their children to foster care.  The authors recommend continuing research into homeless families including: identifying the range of interrelationships of family and social support networks among individuals and families who are homeless,  identifying young women who are at risk for homelessness and pregnancy, and Identifying which families will succeed in independent living and which families require long-term supportive housing interventions.

For more information.

Australian "Shaman" Loses Bid to Keep Name out of Report

A self-styled "North American Indian shaman healer" has failed in his bid to prevent an Australian Health Service Commissioner from naming him in a report to Victoria's State Parliament. Due to reports of sexually inappropriate behaviour with female patients, Shamir Narra Avorham Djuwani Kiefa Israel Marlon Wati Dakota Jessie Malakhi-Zion-Angel-Shalom (born Peter Marlon de Angelis) was ordered to stop his healing practice.  After repeated refusals to comply, Health Service Commissioner Beth Wilson told Shalom that he would be named in the report to warn vulnerable members of the public about him.

Shalom, 52, and his lawyer disputed Ms. Wilson's allegations and maintained that the shaman was not a healer but rather a "teacher who empowered patients to heal themselves".   Through "tantric dances" and other rituals, Shalom offered his services in the treatment of various diseases, including cancer.  Charging $220 Australian dollars for each shamanic healing session, claimed that he was a spiritual teacher and sage who often assisted other healers and even police departments with "ongoing psychic detective investigations".  A twice-divorced father of two, Shalom was recently reduced to living in his car following a domestic dispute.  While Ms. Wilson referred to various advertisements that described him as ''(Wakinyan) Thunder Eagle'', a ''Shaman, psychic, spiritualist, healer, counsellor'', Shalom denied placing the ads himself.

Beth Wilson's concerns about Shalom and his health practices arose from several complaints filed by female patients.  According to their statements, Shalom had promised to cure their cancer and entered into sexual relationships with several of his patients.  By falsely representing himself as a healer and failing to respect proper boundaries with his patients, Wilson maintains that he poses a danger to the public. Shalom, in turn, maintains that being publicly named in the report would "destroy his life" and ruin his practice.  He also stated that the allegations of sexual misconduct raised against him are part of a conspiracy arising from his "sensitive dealings" with the police.

For more information.

Protecting The Children (Part 2)

Continued from Part One

The comic book industry hardly took Wertham's criticism in stride though. Not only did publishers hire private detectives to investigate his past, these detectives also harassed Wertham's colleagues at his clinic. According to an unfortunately-worded editorial written in the comic book industry newsletter Quest, "The immediate enemy is Fredric Wertham, not some other publisher.  He cannot be reasoned with. He must be discredited and rendered ineffective. Will he go away?Probably not. He must be knocked out". Wertham was sufficiently alarmed by the editorial to send a copy to New York's police commissioner.

Based on the Senate hearings, the Comic Code Authority was established in 1954 to regulate comic book content. Until it was revised in the 1970s, the Code banned all graphic descriptions of violence, gore, and sexual innuendo in comic books.; It also banned any negative representation of authority figures and stipulated that "in every instance, good should triumph over evil" as well as any representation of kidnapping or concealed weapons. EC Comics only survived by focusing on its only non-horror title, Mad Magazine (which savagely parodied Fredric Wertham for years afterward).

Wertham's influence was hardly limited to the United States alone. Child welfare agencies in Canada, Great Britain, Australia, and elsewhere began to call for restrictions on the importing of American comic books (partly out of concern for the violent content and partly to protect their own domestic comic book industries). Articles in British, Canadian, and Australian newspapers routinely denounced American comic books as being equivalent to a "narcotic" administering steadily greater shocks that desensitized children to violence. Women's groups, educators, the Catholic Church, and various other special interest groups formed alliances designed to counter the comic book menace on an international scale. Fredric Wertham's writings were extensively quoted in speeches and radio broadcasts around the world and government panels weighed in on the concerns that anti-comics crusaders raised. By the late 1950s, government regulating bodies for comic books were established across North America as well as various European and Asian countries.

The passing of the Comic Code Authority represented Fredric Wertham's greatest achievement (even if he protested that the regulation didn't go far enough). He would never be as influential again despite his efforts to expand his crusade to include other forms of media violence. In 1959, he attempted to publish a followup to his earlier book to focus on television violence but no publishers were interested. Despite occasional television appearances and articles in popular newspapers, his career as a media pundit was effectively over. Wertham continued writing on juvenile delinquency and the power of media until his death in 1981. Later social scientists tend to dismiss his work as being without scientific merit and comic book fans remember him only as a conservative demagogue and an advocate of censorship (one comic book writer referred to him as the "Josef Mengele of funnybooks"). To this day, comic book writers continue to parody Wertham and his crusade in various forms.

And yet...

Whatever we try to make of Fredric Wertham, he was hardly your typical demagogue. An early supporter of desegregation (and a personal friend of Ralph Ellison), Wertham's writing on race relationswere used as testimony in the 1954 Brown vs Board of Education case which overturned school segregation in the United States. In his 1966 book, A Sign for Cain, he linked racism to the genocidal policies of Nazi psychiatrists in the forced euthanasia of mental patients. Heended the book with a powerful message for abolishing the death penalty and his own philosophy of social reform. He even tried to reach out to the comic book subculture with his support of fanzines although fans refused to forgive him for his role in undermining the industry. Throughout his lifetime, Fredric Wertham placed his reputation on the line to support unpopular causes and to defend what he believed to be right.

While he is mainly remembered by the anti-comics crusade, his role as an early pioneer in the role of media in influencing behaviour can't be denied, even if you disagree with his views. It was Fredric Wertham who took comic books seriously enough as a cultural medium to address their impact on the children for which they had been written (something no other social scientist had bothered to do before). Whether his crusade was completely without value is open to argument.

Learning to be a Parent

An article published in a recent issue of Developmental Psychology presents the results of a longitudinal study of cross-generational parenting quality.  The researchers examined parenting skills in a sample of 61 participants (26 boys and 35 girls) in a lower socioeconomic status sample of moderate ethnic diversity. All subjects were part of a long-term study involving mothers recruited from Minneapolis public health clinics between 1976 and 1977.  The current study participants are second-generation subjects permitting assessment  of parenting skills across generations. Data was collected based on direct observation assessments for both generations in the study with controls being made for critical background factors such as stress, socioeconomic status, child and parent IQ.  For both parenting samples, parenting skills were assessed over a 24-month period.   Statistical analysis showed moderate stability (r = .43) in parenting quality across generations, and findings held after controlling for all other factors. The authors suggest that early parenting experience may play a significant role in passing on parenting skills to the next generation although extensive research is needed to demonstrate it further

For more information.

Encephalon 78

A hearty welcome to the 78th edition of Encephalon, the bi-monthly showcase for the best in brain and mind blogging.  I have been a long-time fan of this carnival and it's a pleasure for me to host it this time around.  There is a full roster of fascinating posts to cover so let's get started...

First up is Ionian Enchantment with a two-part entry on the visual assessment of formidability that can be found here and here.  We learn that being able to size up an opponent quickly is a survival trait (I learned that in grade school).

Next we have Brain Blogger giving us two separate posts.  The first post is on the cognitive impairments that are often seen in patients who have undergone major surgery, especially older patients.  The second post focuses on the evolutionary history of depression.  Is it always a disease or can it have adaptive value?

Does meditation affect brain performance?  Generally Thinking reviews neuroscience research examining Buddhist meditation practices.

Brain Stimulant tells us about a radical new research program using robots to model specialized neurological processes.

Then we come to Neurocritic with two posts.  The first post is on the newest fad of genomarketing, i.e., do our genes shape our buying choices?    The post  weighs in on the pros and con.   The second post deals with some very unusual case studies in sexology and the brain. 

I weigh in with a modest contribution about a tragic case of dementia pugilistica in a professional boxer who couldn't bring himself to quit.

Then we have the intrepid Mo from Neurophilosophy who gives us two posts.  The first post recaps some fascinating research into the Cocktail Party effect and the problems dyslexic children face in making sense from noise.  The second post deals with the Phantom Limb syndrome and the bizarre form it can take in some patients.

Our final contributor is Sandeep from The Mouse Trap who gives us three posts.  His first post is an addendum to his recent series on IQ, SES and heritability. While "know thyself" is an ancient bit of advice that never goes out of date, how many different ways are there to do it?  According to this post about Ulric Neisser, at least five.  Then we come to the third post that deals with the epigenetics of autism and how it may relate to schizophrenia.

That's it for this time. We're still looking for a host for the next edition, so if you're a neuro/psychology blogger and you'd like to be the next Encephalon editor, please email encephalon dot  host at gmail dot com.

Protecting the Children (Part 1)

It's hard to say for sure when the Golden Age of comics books ended.

Since the comic book format was first introduced in 1934, start-up companies featuring legendary talents such as Will Eisner, Jack Kirby, Bob Kane, and Jerry Robinson quickly established themselves. Throughout the  late 1930s and 1940s, comic books sales boomed with the rise of popular characters such as Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. While other countries followed suit with their own comic book industries, U.S. comic book companies tended to dominate the field. The comics industry grew and adapted with changing world events. As the U.S. entered World War II, comic book characters went to war in increasing numbers and the rise of the Atomic age simply introduced new plot lines for the next generation of comic book characters.

By the beginning of the 1950s however, the industry began to decline and new "grittier" comic books were released which increasingly focused on horror and detective dramas. It also marked the peak of the comics book boom with over 650 different titles being produced monthly by 1952 and millions of issues being sold every year. While conservative factions had long protested against the "evil" influence that comic books had on developing minds, the increasingly violent content to be found in many of the horror- and crime-oriented comics began to worry parents and educators alike.

That same era also marked the rise of juvenile delinquency as a serious concern in American society. Beginning in the years following World War II, increased publicity about crimes being committed by (usually male) youths generated considerable alarm and left child experts scrambling for an explanation. While early criminologists pointed out the probable role of family disruptions resulting from the war in delinquent behaviour, parents and educators were often uncomfortable with the blame falling so close to home. Hard questions began to be asked about the role of mass media in violence, especially given the violent content often found on radio (and later television) as well as comic books. Could violent comic books play a role in delinquency?

The crusade against comic books was nothing new (comic book burnings at conservative high schools had actually begun in the 1940s) but it took Fredric Wertham to give it respectability. A German-born psychiatrist who had moved to the U.S. in the 1920s, Wertham had established himself as a prominent forensic psychiatrist (he had appeared as an expert witness in the Albert Fish trial). He was also a prominent social activist who developed an interest in the role of the media in shaping violent behaviour.; Beginning in the 1940s, Wertham wrote a series of books and articles on the influence of violent comic books on youth violence. He specifically target comic books over other media portrayals of violence since comics were written specifically for children.  Other forms of media violence managed to escape his wrath since they were intended for audiences of all ages. For that reason, comic books needed to meet a higher standard than other media. It didn't help that the early comic book industry was almost completely unregulated with none of the government agencies overseeing newspaper and radio content.

Some of Wertham's early articles prompted attempts at self-censorship by the comics book industry. Many comic book publishers formed their own advisory boards with child psychiatrists weighing in on the impact of violent content on children but that wasn't enough to appease Fredric Wertham.  He dismissed these advisory board members as "psycho-prima donnas" who were obviously lacking in basic clinical experience with children.As he later wrote, "The fact that some child psychiatrists endorse comic books does not prove the healthy state of the comic books. It only proves the unhealthy state of child psychiatry".

In 1954, Wertham published his most influential book, Seduction of the Innocent.  In his book, Wertham provided graphic descriptions of the violent content that could be found in comic books. He specifically targeted EC Comics with its extensive line of horror/crime comics (including the Tales from the Crypt series). Along with his fairly valid objections to the extreme violence depicted in comic books, Wertham made some bizarre conclusions about the hidden sexual content to be found as well.  Not only did he denounce Wonder Woman for its "lesbian" and bondage themes, but he also suggested that Batman and Robin's relationship had homosexual overtones. Wertham also had harsh words for the advertisements in comic books (offering items such as air rifles, knives, and "x-ray glasses"). In his book, he concluded that, "The time has come to legislate these books off the newstands and out of candy stores".

Because of Wertham's book and his credentials as an expert witness, he was called to testify before the newly-formed U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency.   Then-chaired by Senator Estes Kefauver, the subcommittee held public hearings that focused on "crime and horror" comic books and their potential impact on juvenile delinquency. Fredric Wertham was hardly the only expert witness called&to testify though. Other prominent researchers, including Lauretta Bender and Frederic Thrasher disputed the link between comic books and juvenile delinquency although Wertham's higher media profile gave his testimony more weight.

There was certainly little actual research on the supposed link between comic book violence and juvenile delinquency. While studies into comic book readership tended to find that most U.S children under the age of ten read comics on a regular basis (with boys being more likely than girls to prefer adventure comics).few studies found evidence that the books were harmful. Some researchers reported that comic book readers  had a lower IQ than non-comic book readers although later researchers failed to replicate this result. The lack of empirical data didn't stop Wertham's crusading.

Continue to Part Two

Blood-Note Stalker Trial Proceeding

Glasgow therapist, Dr. Lorna Relton, first realized that something was wrong when her patient, Brian Johnstone, asked her for help with his camera during a treatment session in early 2006. The 31-year old Johnstone then took her picture. The next day, Dr. Relton received an anonymous package at her house containing three broaches and a note saying, "Lorna, a gift from guess who" Since she suspected that the package was from Johnstone, she notified her supervisor at Glasgow''s Shawpark Resource Centre and they agreed that she would no longer be his therapist.Days after Johnstone was told of the decision, the external mirrors and windshield wipers from Dr. Relton's car were stolen although police told her that there was insufficient evidence to charge the patient.

Some time later, two mental health nurses who had visited the unemployed Johnstone's home told Dr. Relton that he had a large photograph of her as the background of his computer screen. Police investigated when the mirrors from her car were stolen again. In their search of Brian Johnstone's home, they found more than a thousand photographs and videos of Dr. Relton, her car, and her house. They also found the missing items from her car sealed in plastic bags as well as several notes which he had written in his own blood proclaiming his love for Dr. Relton. At least one of the notes had been written as if it were from her stating, "Brian, I'm keeping my body warm for you, when I see your muscles my heart starts pounding". Police also found handcuffs, pepper spray, smoke grenades, a handgun and a crossbow in their search of Johnstone's home.

Johnstone, now an inpatient at a secure care facility in Glasgow's Stobhill Hospital, has admitted to committing a breach of the peace in his harassment of Dr. Relton. His defense counsel is maintaining that his client is suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder. A forensic psychiatrist evaluating Johnstone has warned that he poses a risk to society if he is ever released. Legal complications have delayed sentencing in the case but Sheriff Norman Ritchie is awaiting forensic reports before the case can proceed. Brian Johnstone faces a possible life sentence.

For more information.

Encephalon #78 - Call for submissions

Providentia will be hosting the 78th installment of ENCEPHALON, the regular neuroscience and psychology carnival on November 16th. A tradition since February 2008, ENCEPHALON provides a selection of the best neuroscience and psychology posts of the previous two weeks.  We're looking for the best mind and brain writing from around the net.  So, fire up those neurons and see what you can share with the rest of us.

As ever, please e-mail submissions (up to 3 posts) to encephalon dot host at gmail dot com, by the end of this Sunday 15th November!

Postconcussive Symptoms and PTSD in Veterans

Veterans with a history of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) are reporting postconcussive symptoms in addition to experiencing postdeployment physical and emotional comorbidities. The Veterans Health Administration has mandated specialized evaluation and treatment for veterans with a history of mTBI and has suggested widespread use of the Neurobehavioral Symptom Inventory (NSI) as a measure of postconcussive symptoms. A study published in a recent issue of Rehabilitation Psychology evaluated the NSI’s factor structure and assessed the impact of posttraumatic stress (PTS) on the scale at the item and factor levels. Five hundred twenty-nine charts of returning veterans who screened positive for traumatic brain injury were reviewed, and 345 who met criteria for mTBI were included in the study. The study results were examined and the resulting factor analysis on the NSI revealed a difficult-to-interpret factor structure that was inconsistent with the results of civilian studies. PTS explained 5%–38% of the variance in individual postconcussive symptoms, and after controlling for this variance, the factor structure more closely paralleled findings from the civilian literature. The authors conclude that posttraumatic stress is an important variable to account for when evaluating PCSx in veterans. The authors also discuss research and clinical implications for the measurement and interpretation of self-reported postconcussive symptoms.

For more information.