Fredric Wertham

Fredric Wertham, born the March 20th 1895 with Munich (Germany) and dead the November 18th 1981 is a American psychiatrist which conducted a campaign against the Comics in the Années 1950.

Studies

He studies with Munich, Erlangen and London, then at the university of Würzburg of which he is graduate in 1921. The principal influences in its career of psychiatrist are those of Sigmund Freud, with which it had a correspondence, and of Emil Kraepelin. It is in the private clinic directed by the latter, where he worked starting from 1921 qu ' he is formed a conviction which will influence its later work considerably, that according to which the environment and the social condition have a major influence on the psychological development of the children.

American career

In 1922, it settles with the the United States, where it takes a station with the Université Johns-Hopkins. It obtains American nationality in 1927. In 1932, it obtains the very important station of senior psychiatrist of the department of the hospitals of the town of New York. He becomes thus director of the psychiatric services several New Yorkean hospitals of which the Bellevue Hospital, General Hospital of the Queens and Lafargue Clinic of Harlem.

Wertham is characterized particularly by its collaborations with the legal institutions. It frequently intervenes in lawsuits as an expert psychiatrist. It contributes to the installation of a psychiatric system of evaluation of condemned New Yorkean, innovative courts for the time. In 1935, it is made known of the public with its participation in the lawsuit of the serial killer Albert Fish. Quoted as an expert by defense, Wertham is charged to carry out a psychiatric evaluation of the defendant. He concludes with the madness from this one, which is however declared healthy of spirit by the court and finally carried out.

In 1934, it publishes its first book, The Brain ace year Organ , a general study of the mental disease based on the theses of Emil Kraepelin. Its work which frequently puts it in liaison with young violent ones and/or affected of psychiatric disorders determines the orientation of its later scientific activities. Faithful to its school of thought, he seeks environmental factors being able to explain these behaviors, which leads it to be interested in the influence of the media of mass on the children and teenagers. Thus in 1941, it publishes the book Dark Legend , where it reports the true story of a 17 year old murderer, who had according to him a particular obsession for films, the broadcast serials, and the cartoon.

Seduction off the Innocent and the crusade anti-comics

Starting from 1948, it engages in a campaign against the Comic S. It publishes in particular an interview in the magazine Collier' S Weekly entitled Horror in the Nursery and The Psychopathology off Comic Books in the scientific newspaper the American Journal off Psychotherapy . Wertham is not the only one to criticize the cartoons, but its scientific titles and its quality of witness-expert quoted by the authorities in many legal affairs return it convainquant particularly.

It off reaches the height of its influence in 1954 with the publication of its book Seduction the Innocent . It described there many open or suggested representations of scenes of violence, sex, use of drug and other adult topics that it raised in what it calls the crime comics . For him those include all comic containing scenes of crime, which they are devoted to stories of gangsters and businesses of murder (a very popular kind at the time), of Super-héros or horror. He also reports crimes committed by readers of comics, hammering his thesis: the reading of comics pushes the young people with the crime. The book becomes a best-seller; extracts are published by it in publications such as the Reader' S Digest, increasing its impact further.

The publication of the book coincides with work of a board of inquiry of the Congrès on the juvenile delinquency. With the agitation caused by its work, it is inevitable that Wertham is brought to testify. Actually convened before this commission, it repeats its theses there: the comics are one of the causes of the juvenile delinquency; its prestige due to its role of expert witness in several important lawsuits ensures more the great attention to him of its audience. It is however not this testimony which obtains the greatest repercussion, but that of the editor William Gaines. Its publisher, EC. Comics publishes then the comic books with the most adult topics of the market, in particular in the kind of the horror. Eager to defend its activity, Gaines describes the cover of the one of its publications where a head of woman decapitated like “good taste appears”. Mentioned again in the newspapers, this interpreted answer as the symbol of the cynicism of the editors unfavourably lays out the public in their connection. In its conclusions, the commission does not recommend a precise measure, but recommends to the editors to soften to them-even their publications.

Fearing the installation of a legislation of governmental Censure, the principal editors create an organization called Comics Codes Authority (CCA) charged to define and make apply a whole of rules to the suitable contents in the comics. Wertham criticizes considering the installation of the CCA, it too near to the editors that it estimates unable car-to control itself. Since 1955, he testifies before a committee to the New York State Legislature (legislative body to the State to New York that the comics are not better under the code than before, showing like proof a whip and a knife bought starting from publicities present in a comic book carrying the seal of the CCA. However, the introduction of the Comics Codes had a real effect: following the example EC., many editors made bankruptcy or all at least stopped their most adult series; on average, the comics became more edulcorated much than before.

Later career

Publicity around the theses of Wertham concerning the harmful influence of the media in general and the comics in particular on the young people eclipsed its other work, which primarily turned around the broader topics of violence and the protection of the children against the psychological traumatisms. Thus one of its articles on the psychological consequences of the Racial segregation in the schools was used in the stop of the supreme Cour Brown v. Board off Education which declared it unconstitutional in the public schools. Another of its works, the sign of Cain , published in 1966, treats in particular implication of members of the medical community in the Shoah.

Wertham always denied to have been in favor of the censure or to be opposite with the cartoon in oneself: I had nothing whatever to C directly with the comics codes. NOR I ever endorsed it cuts. NOR C I believe in it. . In the years 1970, it is interested in the world of the Fanzine S written by the amateurs of comics in connection with their passion. In its last book, The World off Fanzines: In Special Form off Communication , published in 1974, it is shown very positive concerning this activity, which it considers healthy and creative. This work leads it to be invited with the New York Comic Art Convention (principal American festival of cartoon of the time). It is accommodated there with hostility and even somewhat chahuté, certain fans always reproaching him his hostility passed with regard to the comics. This event marks the end of its interest for the comics.

He dies in 1981 with Lynn Township, Pennsylvania.

Evaluation of the theses of Wertham

The theses of Wertham were criticized inter alia for their lack of scientific rigor (absence of statistical data, testimonys taken for money cash without critical retreat) and for their even untrue erroneous presentation of some of the quoted comics.

Works (selection)

Seduction off the Innocent , Amereon Ltd, 1954
has Sign for Cain: Year Exploration off Human Violence , Hauls, 1968
The World off Fanzines: In Special Form off Communication , Southern Illinois University Near, 1973

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