Case Studies Of Gory Murders In M.D.'s New Book

Dr. Wertham's subject is murder. It seems that more people are killed each year by other people than by tuberculosis. Taking murder purely as a fatal disease, Dr. Wertham examines the role of psychiatry in homicide. He connects the two in the following manner: "Murder grows from negative emotions, from fear and hatred, from anxiety and anger, from frustration and desperation, and resentment. The science of emotions is psychiatry."

Ever since psychiatrists have been used as expert witnesses by the Courts, there have been bitter struggles between the doctors of the prosecution and the doctors of the defense. These battles have tended to center on the very popular "insanity plea." There is no legal definition of insanity, and since each case is different, the psychiatrists cannot apply any hard and fast rules. The experts can only give their usually conflicting opinions, and the Court must come to final decision.

For the most part, "The Show of Violence" recounts actual murder cases in which the question of the defendant's sanity played the major role. In all these cases, official psychiatry was grotesquely bungled. Dr. Wertham, who was closely connected with the cases, tells the stories to the tune of his bitter critiques.

This book is not a technical treatise. It should fascinate anyone interested in criminal law or psychiatry, or both. The sole flaw in the book is Dr. Wertham's habit of self-congratulation. His own treatments and diagnoses are always correct, those of his colleagues are usually wrong or incompetent, and if the judge had listened to him everything would have turned out all right. The reader is left with the picture of the author battling alone against the forces of stupidity, as represented by judicial and medical quacks. This is purely a personal flaw, though; Dr. Wertham's style is fresh and very un-medical.

Finally, the case histories in this book are intensely interesting, but some of them require a pretty strong stomach. For instance, one of Dr. Wertham's patients cut up a little girl, fried her with carrots and onions, and ate her.