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SURGERY FOR CRIMINAL TENDENCIES

SURGERY FOR CRIMINAL TENDENCIES An interesting after-development in a surgical case which attracted much attention about four years ago has just occurred. A prisoner serving a long sentence in the prison at Dannemora, N. Y., was pardoned by Governor White on representations which seemed to make it clear that he had been cured of his criminal tendencies by a surgical operation. The prisoner was comparatively young, but from boyhood had been noted for his tendencies to appropriate the property of others, not only by faking, but by clever frauds and by forgery. When given this long term he had carefully studied his own case, it was said, and had found that at the age of about 14 he had been struck on the head with a fence-picket. The result was a fracture of the skull for which the subsequent prisoner had to stay for a long time in the hospital. Before this, according to the story as detailed by the prisoner, he had been an exemplary youth. After this he became morose, sullen and a thief, and stole from every one. Becoming convinced that his criminal tendencies were due to this injury to his head, he sent for the family physician who had treated him, not for the injury, but some years afterward. He set his case clearly before the physicians whom the family physician called in consultation, and finally convinced them that perhaps there was something in his story. He had been reading books on criminology and was quite sure that the root of the evil was a physical defect and not a moral perversion in his own case. He represented that often when he took things he had no need for them; that even the large forgery for which he was under sentence had been committed at a time when he had no particular need of the money, and that there must be something else besides an ordinary tendency to thieving in his case. An examination of his skull showed an old thickening underneath the scalp at the point where he had been injured. Apparently this thickening might produce some pressure on the brain, and since he pleaded it seemed worth while to try at least to relieve any pathologic condition that might exist. The operation was done, the thickened portion of bone removed, and during convalescence the prisoner's character seemed to change. From being sullen and morose he became bright and cheerful, walked with firmer step, held his head erect and appeared to be a different man. It is not surprising then that a few months after the operation the governor was induced to set him free on parole, and there seemed to be every reason to hope that a useful citizen had been restored to society in place of the criminal that had been taken from it. Unfortunately the arrest of the paroled prisoner during the first week in January of the present year, for a series of burglaries with regard to which the evidence is complete, seems to make it clear that the improvement was only temporary, or that the operation and his subsequent good conduct were steps in a scheme to secure his release from prison. The gang of burglars with which he has been working has been one of the most dangerous in western New York. Evidence seems to show that he was actually the leader and the inspiring genius of the gang. He has not been led astray into crime the second time, but he has actually been the perverter of others. It is just four years since his release, and for nearly a year he was under the surveillance of the police, who declared that he was leading an honest life. He seems to have been aware of their surveillance and of the fact that it had ceased, for almost immediately afterward began the series of burglaries which has finally landed him in prison again. This result or something similar is of course no more than what might have been expected. There is no trustworthy evidence to show that perversions of moral character, independent of mental deterioration, result from pressure on the brain. During the Civil War a large number of injuries to the head by penetrating wounds of various kinds with subsequent recovery were noted, yet perversions of character followed in so few cases that they must be taken as representing coincidences and not consequences. Very severe injuries to the brain, as for instance in the famous crowbar case, have been followed by actual improvement of character rather than the reverse, although, of course, there is no more reason to trace a relation of cause and effect here than in the instances of deterioration. Without any injuries, men have been known to change from respected citizens to criminals or at least to violators of law. Even in cases of insanity following injuries to the head, moreover, favorable results from operative interference are very infrequent. Sensational announcements of improvement in such cases after surgical intervention, like those that used to be made for various surgical procedures in epilepsy, need to be controlled by the subsequent history of the case. Immediate improvement in both sets of cases is usually rather mental than physical in origin, and while the possibility of improvement in certain severe cases justifies surgical intervention, successes reported before many years have tested their permanence are liable to produce false impressions. JAMA. 1913;60(5):368-369 Back to top Article Information Editor's Note: JAMA 100 Years Ago is transcribed verbatim from articles published a century ago, unless otherwise noted. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png JAMA American Medical Association

SURGERY FOR CRIMINAL TENDENCIES

JAMA , Volume 309 (5) – Feb 6, 2013
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SURGERY FOR CRIMINAL TENDENCIES

Abstract

An interesting after-development in a surgical case which attracted much attention about four years ago has just occurred. A prisoner serving a long sentence in the prison at Dannemora, N. Y., was pardoned by Governor White on representations which seemed to make it clear that he had been cured of his criminal tendencies by a surgical operation. The prisoner was comparatively young, but from boyhood had been noted for his tendencies to appropriate the property of others, not only by faking,...
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Publisher
American Medical Association
Copyright
Copyright © 2013 American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved.
ISSN
0098-7484
eISSN
1538-3598
DOI
10.1001/jama.2012.145199
Publisher site
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Abstract

An interesting after-development in a surgical case which attracted much attention about four years ago has just occurred. A prisoner serving a long sentence in the prison at Dannemora, N. Y., was pardoned by Governor White on representations which seemed to make it clear that he had been cured of his criminal tendencies by a surgical operation. The prisoner was comparatively young, but from boyhood had been noted for his tendencies to appropriate the property of others, not only by faking, but by clever frauds and by forgery. When given this long term he had carefully studied his own case, it was said, and had found that at the age of about 14 he had been struck on the head with a fence-picket. The result was a fracture of the skull for which the subsequent prisoner had to stay for a long time in the hospital. Before this, according to the story as detailed by the prisoner, he had been an exemplary youth. After this he became morose, sullen and a thief, and stole from every one. Becoming convinced that his criminal tendencies were due to this injury to his head, he sent for the family physician who had treated him, not for the injury, but some years afterward. He set his case clearly before the physicians whom the family physician called in consultation, and finally convinced them that perhaps there was something in his story. He had been reading books on criminology and was quite sure that the root of the evil was a physical defect and not a moral perversion in his own case. He represented that often when he took things he had no need for them; that even the large forgery for which he was under sentence had been committed at a time when he had no particular need of the money, and that there must be something else besides an ordinary tendency to thieving in his case. An examination of his skull showed an old thickening underneath the scalp at the point where he had been injured. Apparently this thickening might produce some pressure on the brain, and since he pleaded it seemed worth while to try at least to relieve any pathologic condition that might exist. The operation was done, the thickened portion of bone removed, and during convalescence the prisoner's character seemed to change. From being sullen and morose he became bright and cheerful, walked with firmer step, held his head erect and appeared to be a different man. It is not surprising then that a few months after the operation the governor was induced to set him free on parole, and there seemed to be every reason to hope that a useful citizen had been restored to society in place of the criminal that had been taken from it. Unfortunately the arrest of the paroled prisoner during the first week in January of the present year, for a series of burglaries with regard to which the evidence is complete, seems to make it clear that the improvement was only temporary, or that the operation and his subsequent good conduct were steps in a scheme to secure his release from prison. The gang of burglars with which he has been working has been one of the most dangerous in western New York. Evidence seems to show that he was actually the leader and the inspiring genius of the gang. He has not been led astray into crime the second time, but he has actually been the perverter of others. It is just four years since his release, and for nearly a year he was under the surveillance of the police, who declared that he was leading an honest life. He seems to have been aware of their surveillance and of the fact that it had ceased, for almost immediately afterward began the series of burglaries which has finally landed him in prison again. This result or something similar is of course no more than what might have been expected. There is no trustworthy evidence to show that perversions of moral character, independent of mental deterioration, result from pressure on the brain. During the Civil War a large number of injuries to the head by penetrating wounds of various kinds with subsequent recovery were noted, yet perversions of character followed in so few cases that they must be taken as representing coincidences and not consequences. Very severe injuries to the brain, as for instance in the famous crowbar case, have been followed by actual improvement of character rather than the reverse, although, of course, there is no more reason to trace a relation of cause and effect here than in the instances of deterioration. Without any injuries, men have been known to change from respected citizens to criminals or at least to violators of law. Even in cases of insanity following injuries to the head, moreover, favorable results from operative interference are very infrequent. Sensational announcements of improvement in such cases after surgical intervention, like those that used to be made for various surgical procedures in epilepsy, need to be controlled by the subsequent history of the case. Immediate improvement in both sets of cases is usually rather mental than physical in origin, and while the possibility of improvement in certain severe cases justifies surgical intervention, successes reported before many years have tested their permanence are liable to produce false impressions. JAMA. 1913;60(5):368-369 Back to top Article Information Editor's Note: JAMA 100 Years Ago is transcribed verbatim from articles published a century ago, unless otherwise noted.

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JAMA – American Medical Association

Published: Feb 6, 2013

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