n the wake of last week's tragic shootings at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, a lot of proposals have been put forth to deal with an alleged epidemic of youth violence. Metal detectors in schools, bans on cell phones, "counseling" for students, locker checks, even dress codes have all been suggested. But how much of this is realistic, or effective? Does the equivalent of racial profile -- looking for prescient indicators of potential violence in youngsters -- really work? Or is a feel-good strategy for edgy parents,on-the-spot community leaders, and even greedy members of a "psychology industry" who insist they have a product which may not really be effective?

   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, Second Edition, 1998). 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 Victoria.

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 Cambridge-Sommervile Youth Study study, that looked at what happened over time and involved kids who received counseling. It involved 650 boys between 6 - 10 years of age and randomly divided them into two groups with equal chances of delinquency. 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. It also found that thirty years later the kids who had received all of this therapy and suport were no less likely to have committed crimes and actuallywere shown to have committed more serious crimes, and they were also more likely to suffer from alcoholism,various"mental illnesses" and so on. Why? Well, the researcher, Joan McCord,identified three factorswhich may contribute to the harmful effects of therapy: "encouraged dependency, false optimism and externalized responsibility."    I think it's interesting that you don't hear much about this study these days as everyone is rushing in to provide counselling as the solution to the rising problem of youth violence. 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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