Cracking Down on Protests with…Brain Surgery?
Essential Question: Why was surgical intervention for “violent protestors” proposed but ultimately deemed ineffective and unethical? In what ways can we more effectively address the physiological impacts of race-based trauma and stress?
Standards:
LS1D: Information Processing
LS1A: Structure and Function
Photo: Medium.com
LA Times, Watts Riot of 1965
Throughout the 1960s and 70s, predominantly-Black protesters took to the streets demanding an end to the pervasive police brutality, job and housing discrimination, and other systemic forms of racism faced by majority-POC communities. Civil rights activist Bayard Rustin explained “I think the real cause is that Negro youth—jobless, hopeless—does not feel a part of American society. The major job we have is to find them work, decent housing, education, training, so they can feel a part of the structure. People who feel a part of the structure do not attack it.”
To many white Americans, the demonstrations presented a threat to the comforts of power and privilege that they had become accustomed to. So, rather than address the social structures from which the protests stemmed, some prominent white Americans reduced the problem to an issue of isolated individuals whose anger they pathologized.
Photo: B.J. Mason
In 1973, psycho-surgeons Vernon Mark, Frank Ervin, and William Sweet, published papers in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Time, Newsweek, and numerous other publications titled “Role of Brain Disease in Riots and Urban Violence." Their work linked riotous behavior with “brain dysfunction” and advocated for mass screening and brain surgery of protestors. They argued “The real lesson of the urban rioting is that, besides the need to study the social fabric that creates the riot atmosphere, we need intensive research and clinical studies of the individuals committing the violence. The goal of such studies would be to pinpoint, diagnose, and treat those people with low violence thresholds before they contribute to further tragedies.” Despite lacking substantial data for the effectiveness and safety of their proposed methods, Mark, Ervin, and Sweet’s work gained political popularity and received substantial government- funding from the Department of Justice (DOJ) and National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). However, their work was not without controversy and in 1974, just a year after publication, their funding was pulled when the DOJ made the decision to cease funding for medical research and funnel all grant-requests to the Department of Health and Human Safety. Unfortunately, this ruling came after several other doctors in their field, including Dr. O.J. Andy at the University of Mississippi, had already operated on at least dozens of Black children they perceived to be “hyperactive” or “aggressive.”
After public pressure from inside and outside of the medical community, in 1977, U.S. Congress established a committee to investigate the use of psychosurgery. They ultimately concluded that with the exception of “very limited” cases in which results had been favorable, most instances of pyschosurgery had been harmful and an abuse of power to control minority groups and individuals.
Photo: Dipesh Niavsaria, CDC
In a lesson or unit about brain and nervous system, students may study how pervasive trauma caused by racism and discrimination can affect a person physiologically and symptomatically. They should become familiar with structures, functions, and interactions of the amygdala, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex among other parts of the brain. Additionally, students may learn about the hypothalmus’ role in triggering the sympathetic nervous system, as well as the long term effects of chronic stress on the nervous and endocrine systems. These also serve as great examples of feedback loops.
With this baseline medical and social understanding, students can critically evaluate antiquated “solutions” like psychosurgery as well as current therapies ranging from mindfulness techniques to anti-depressants. Take a public health lens by considering the role of politics in medical research or promoting trauma-informed education. Or, help students build practices to reflect on and cope with stressors in their own lives.
