Before Ethics and Morality

Before Ethics and Morality mental retardationcan develop, and movement stereotypes such as rocking are often present. by James W. Prescott The studies of Rene Spitz on the effects of "hospitalism" on infants raised in a foundling home What is ethical and moral. behavior? What is moral have documented that such infants can die when education? Without a definitionof the former, a emotional deprivation is severe. This has been curriculum for the latter cannot be developed. The called "marasmus" and occurs even when the diversity of ethical and moral behavior reflects the physical, nutritional, and medical care of the infant diversity of human societies. What is ethicaland is satisfactory. John Bowiby created much moral behavior for one may be unethical and controversy with his retrospective study of the home immoral for another. On the bases of cross-cultural lives of 44 juvenile thieves when he concluded that studies of human behavior, can we establish some earty separation of the infant from its mother leads uniform and invariant principies of moral to a character disorder marked by a “lack of behaviorthat would apply to all human societies? affection or feelings for anyone." These words are Probably not! Even the taking of human life has its commonly used today to characterize psychopaths, cultural and moral acceptance in societies known one type of social offender. Similarly, the Gluecks for their religious rites of human sacrifice and and Robert Hare have reported a high incidence of infanticide. fatheriess families in their studies of delinquency, thus supporting the point of view that the absence As ethical humanists, we can. however,define our of mother or father results in some degree of principies of ethical and moral behavior and then human deprivation, which has been linked to the procced to develop a curriculum to achieve the development of abnormal social and emotional fulfillment of those principies. In this context one behaviors. Linkages between parental deprivation fundamental principie of moral behavior, from the and asocial behavior have been further ethical -humanist perspective, can be identitied: the strengthened by the studies of K. M. Koller and J. rejection of creeds, policies, and specific behaviors N. Castanos. who report that long-term prisoners that inflict pain, suffering, and deprivation upon our (recidivists) have two and one-half times the normal fellowman. The converse of this principie is not just incidence and three and one-half times the normal the absence of pain, suffering, and deprivation but degree of parental loss. Brandt F. Steele and Carl rather the enhancement of pleasure, the promotion Pollock have studied parents who abuse and of affectional human reiationships. the pursuit of battertheir children and have documented a history excellence in individual development. and, in of maternal deprivation, a lack of "mothering" and general, the enrichment of human life.The issues of affection--touching, cuddling, holding-- the heritage human violence and human pleasure are pivotal to of such parents even when the physical and any theory--scientific or religious--of moral behavior. mechanical care of the child was satisfactory. This Violence and pleasure are reciprocally related, that history of human deprivation was traced back to is. the presence of one inhibits the other, and three generations of child- abusers and was found certain critical early sensoryexperiences during the to be the oniy common characteristic of such formative periods of development provide the parents, regardless of social and cconomic status. neurobiological substrate and properties for either The deprivation of human pieasure and sensuality violence - seeking or pleasure-seeking behaviors. during infancy left other marks on these parents, These beginnings are traced to "maternal-social" who were also reported to have poor sexual lives deprivation and to parental child indifference and and, in general,had difficulty in experiencing abuse that result in specific forms of sensory pleasure in day- to-day living. deprivation. The violent sex offender has also been linked with a history of parental abuse and deprivation of affection. The capacity to express pleasure and to The Humanist November/December 1972 express violence are intimately linked and the nature of their reciprocal reiationship, that is, the Effects of Deprivation In Humans inhibition of the one by the other is directly a consequence, of somatosensory deprivation. The effects of "maternal-social" deprivation, institutionalization, hospitalization, and of Another exampie of somatosensory deprivation parental abuse, neglect, and indifference, occurs when infants and children are physicaly immobilized in hospitals with plaster casts, splints, upon infant and child development have been and other kinds of restraining devices commonly weil described by many investigators. When used in pediatric orthopedic wards. Such restraint an infant is separated and isolated trom loving, has been reported to result in the development of attentive parents, there is an initial stage of symptoms of depression mixed with violent, protest, agitation, and distressful crying explosive outbursts, hyperactivity, and impaired followed by depression and withdrawn, pain perception. In these studies, Marteen Sabinga autistic-like behavior. Profound motor and and C. Jack Friedman have also reported reading and language disturbances in such physically

1 restrained children. The damaging effects of earty somatosensory deprivation have been compounded Studies show that stimulus deprivation to the other by the practice of some therapists who place sensory systems-seeing, hearing, tasting. and sandbags on the arms and legs of hyperactive chil- smelling-will not result in the dren or otherwise isolate and reduce "maternal-social"deprivation syndrome“, provided somatosensory stimulation. Institutionalization somatosensory stimulation is present during the practices which imprison men, women, and children formative periods of development. The primate in 'Isolation cells" only aggravate conditions deprivation studies of the Harlows and their many underlying their disorders. associates, where animais were housed in single wire cages in a colony room that permitted visual, Effects of Deprivation In Animals auditory and olfactory comunication but not somatosensory communication with other animals, The experimental rearing of animals under varying clearly implicates the somatosensory system above conditions of parental, social, and sensory and beyond the other sensory systems. This point deprivation has documented effects to those of of view was supported by the results of the human deprivation. peer-rearing conditions--infant monkeys reared together but without mother or father-where the In brief. animals reared under conditions of parental -peer infants did not develop the "matemal-social and social deprivation develop abnormal social and deprivation syndrome. emotional behaviors. First. there is the initial stage of protest and agitation that is followed by depres- Clearly, the significant change in the peer-rearing sive, withdrawn. and autistic- like behaviors. and experiment was the reinstitution of somatosensory movement stereotypes of rocking and stimulation--touching, holding, playing. Equally clear self-stimulation. As animals become older, they is the observation that the absence of mother and develop hyperactivity, hyperreactivity to sensory father was not the critical event for the devetopment stimulation (particulaily to touch), aberrant social of abnormal sociäl and emotional behaviors. These and sexual behavior (monkeys fail to groom, are conclusions are further reinforced by the findings of heterosexually incompetent, and engage in William Mason and Gershon Berkson. who reared excessive, compulsive masturbation), impaired infant monkeys in single wire cages on a "swinging perception of intense or noxious stimulation. such mother surrogate“ a Clorox bottie wrapped in fur as pain and extremely violent-aggressive and with a pie pan bolted on the bottom of the bottle. assaultive behaviors. These infant monkeys would ride on their "swinging mothers", and they did not develop rocking The effects of parental and social deprivation or behaviors and depressive, withdrawn. and isolation-rearing are not isolated phenomena, but autistic-like behaviors as did monkeys reared with a have been documented in different mammalian stationary surrogate mother. species such as rodents, cats, dogs, goats, sheep, and primates. The simitarity of behavioral Additionally, Gershon Berkson reared abnormalities among this great diversity of experimentally blinded infant monkeys with their mammalian species suggests that a common mothers and they did not develop abnormal social specific factor may be identified. Many writers have emotional behaviors. Selma Fraiberg has provided attempted to describe these effects in such terms dramatic documentation that congenitally blind as emotional. social, perceptual, and cognitive children can devetop normal social-emotional deprivations. Finding such terms to be poorly reiationships provided they receive somatosensory defined and reflecting diverse theoretical points of stimulation. Further. Austin Riesen has reared view, 1 have approached the parental-social kittens in the dark and reported normal deprivation phenomena from the viewpoint of social-emotional behaviors provided they received sensory-system fünctioning and sensory sufficient physical handling. Clearly, the visual communication. sensory system is neither critical nor essential for the deve!opment of normal secial-emotiona! behaviors. The Senses

The senses--seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, touching, and body movement--are the only means by which an infant can communicate with the outside worid, beginning with its mother. An examination of the conditions of parental-social Therapeutic Effects of Somato-sensory deprivation. of isolation-rearing. and of certain Stimulatlon clinical conditions of abnormal sensory functioning in children has led me to the conclusion that The beneficial effects of artificial rocking and body stimulus deprivation to the somnatosensory system movement to premature human infants has been (the skin senses and body movement) is the documented by Mary Neal where rocked unique and singular causative factor in accounting prematures were significantly improved when for the effects of "matemal-social deprivation." compared to non-rocked prematures. J. Woodstock

2 reported that rocked full-term infants were more impaired pain perception (where pain is normally a emotionally stable than non-rocked infants, as negative reinforcement). Consequently, both measured by the rate of heart beat in response to a positive (pleasure) and negative (pain) loud buzzer. It is becoming increasingly clear that reinforcement mechanisms become dysfunctional. somatosensory stimulation is beneficial for Inasmuch as the socialization process is dependent emotionally disturbed and hyperactive children. In a upon the integrity of function of these reinforcement recent pilot study by this writer with Dr. William mechanisms, it is not surprising that socialization Nyhan, it was demonstrated that whirling severely fails when there is a developmental history of mentally retarded children in a swivel chair somatosensory deprivation. eliminated their circling, pacing, and hyperactive behaviors. Consistent with the somatosensory lt is known that sensory deprivation during the deprivation theory, their circling behaviors reflected formative periods of development leads to a high a need for that kind of sensory stimulation and demand and need for stimulation later in life. For when provided in an enriched form eliminated the example, both human and monkey infants who abnormal behavior. have been deprived of body-movement stimulation will rock themselves. Similarly, lack of breast Appropriate sensory stimulation can also be an feeding and insufricient use of a pacifier will result effective substitute for drug therapy. Thus, the use in thumbsucking-a need for oral stimulation. of rocking chairs in classrooms, and swings, slides, merry go-rounds, and seesaws in play-grounds, should reduce, if not eliminate, the need for drugs in the treatment of many hyperactive children. In this context, it is possible to understand the paradoxical effects of drug stimulants that quiet hyperactive children, as well as why some hyperactive children develop delinquency behaviors. Sensory Deprivation and Abnormal Brain It would not be surprising to find drug abuse linked Development to these developmental events. As mentioned above, animal deprivation studies have clearly It has been weil established that sensory linked hyperactive and hyperreactive behaviors with deprivation during the formative periods of early somatosensory deprivation. The hypothesis development leads to the abnormal development of that drug abuse is causally linked with early the deprived system. Dependent upon the somatosensory deprivation is given some support magnitude of deprivation, structural abnormalities of by the studies of Nechama and Leon Tec who brain cells--brain damage--can occur. The brain is found the highest incidence of marihuana use highly immature at birth and is dependent upon associated with broken homes and with parents sensory stimulation for normal growth, who lacked "warmth" and affection. The suggestion development, and fünction. Sensory stimulation is that drug stimuiation is a substitute for like a a nutrient--without it the brain does not somatosensory stimulation--that is, body pleasure-- develop or fünction normally. Supersensitivity, needs systematic study. hyperreactivity, and hyper-excitability of neural The Nature of the Somatosensory System structures result when they have been deprived of their afferent input. Walter B. Cannon, renowned Why should somatosensory deprivation have such Harvard physiologist developed the Law of profound effects upon mammalian development? Denervation Supersensitivity, formulited upon the Primarily, the somatosensory system is the sensory effects of surgical cutting (deafferentation) of sen- system that mediates emotional behaviors. Smell sory peripheral nerves. and taste play a lesser role, vision and hearing a lesser still. These latter senses assume a significant It is my thesis that these effects hold for partial role in emotional behavior only by virtue of their fünctional deafferentation (environ-mentally induced association with the somatosensory system. The sensory deprivation) of the central nervous system. infant first knows the mother through body contact Specifically, 1 propose that the vestibular- and much later learns to recognize her through cerebeilar brain structures become dysfunctional by vision and hearing. Thus, the sight of the mother parental-social (somatosensory) deprivation. The and the sound of her voice become conditional vestibular system includes sensory receptors that stimuli that, as secondary signals, can trigger detect motion stimulation to maintain balance. The responses of the infant that previously were cerebellum is a massive brain structure traditionally triggered by somatosensory stimuiation. Whether associated with regulation and coordination of body the sight or sound of the mother initiates positive or movement. It is my contention that the cerebellum negative responses from the infant will therefore be regulates more than body movement, namely. dependent upon the nature and quality of sensory input and social and emotional behaviors. somatosensory communication between the infant There are, of course other brain structures involved. and mother. As mentioned earlier. somatosensory deprivation results in both aversion to touch (where Thus, the abnormal social and emotional behaviors touch is normally a positive reinforcement) and that result from parental and social

3 (somatosensory) deprivation are directly related to impaired brain functioning. Robert G. Heath has The behavioral effects of early somatosensory confirmed abnormal neuroelectrical activity in the deprivation strongly support an inverse relationship cerebellum and other brain structures among between pleasure-seeking and aggression-seeking parentally and sccially deprived monkeys. Walter B. behaviors. Functional capacity in one denotes a Essman has confirmed similar neurochemical functional incapacity in the other. This is to say that abnormalities in the cerebellum of isolation-reared the pleasure-prone personality has a low capacity rodents. Whether the effects of these brain insults and tolerance for violent-aggressive behaviors. are reversible is largely unknown. It is of interest, Conversely, the violence and aggression prone however, that A. J. Berman has markedly reduced personality has a low capacity and tolerance for abnormal behavior in deprived infant monkeys and pleasure and for sensuous behaviors. As one goes violent aggressive behavior in the deprived adult up. the other goes down-with all possible seesaw monkeys through cerebellar neurosurgery. mixes of the two.

The evaluation and assessment of the The inverse reiationship between a state of somatosensory deprivation theory and its pleasure and a state of anguish, depression, fear reiationship to previously described behaviors can and rage is supported by studies of direct electrical be directly obtained by the psychophysiological and and chemical stimulation of specific brain neurophysiological evaluation of sensory system structures. Stimulation of brain pleasure centers fünctioning. It is known that sensory deprivation can eliminate feelings of rage, fear, and depression. during infant development results in impaired Emotional states are apparently dependent upon habituation—a form of adaptation character-ized by the dominant activity of specific brain structures a gradually decreasing response to repeated where the differential functional activity of these sensory stimulation. This gradual decline of specific brain structures is directly related to response is normal behavior. Individuals suffering emotional expenences. These in turn are largely from early somatosensory deprivation, however, influenced by thc quality and quantity of somatosen- should show a different rate of habituation and sory stimulation during the early formative periods responsitivity to somatosensory stimulation than to of deveiopment. visual or auditory sensory stimulation. This is one possible psychophysiological or neurophysiological A Curriculum for Moral Freiedom mechanism underlying stimulus-seeking behaviors, that is, the high demand or need for particular forms In his recent article “Psychocivilized Direction of of sensory stimulation. The details of the Behavior“ (The Humanist, March/April. 1972), José neuromechanisms underlying impaired habituation M. R. Delgado concluded that "messages with are poorly understood. Physiological nystagmus, complex meaning, the building blocks of personal eye movements induced by stimulation of the identity, must reach the brain through ihe senses, vestibular-cerebellar system, would also reflect and that the power of (artificial) brain stimulation is abnormal somatosensory- vestibular-cerebeilar far more modest". He further called for “a great functions. effort to investigate the basic cerebral mechanisms related to the essence of man, and to direct our It can be suggested that the cerebellum in its intellect toward the understanding and control of our abnormal fünctioning sends neural impulses to emotional and behavioral activities“ [italics mine). critical sensory relay nuclei that block the further Hopefülly. this essay has complemented Delgado's transmission of those sensory impulses to other in illustrating how sensory experiences during the brain structures. This could explain the continuous formative periods of development stimulate the rocking behavior of isolation-reared monkeys and brain to produce certain structural and functional institution-alized children. The sensory events neural characteristics intimately related to those created by rocking behaviors are prevented from emotional and behavioral activities. It is apparent reaching their final destination in the brain and that an infant or child is not "free" to select the rocking consequently continues. nature of his sensory environment but is dependent upon adults for the quality of his sensory A similar process may be at work in pathologically environment and, thus, his neurobiological violent adults. Neural impulses, resulting from development and psychobiological predispositions somatosensory stimulation are perhaps being for certain kinds of behavior. From this perspective, blocked from their final destination in the brain; that it is evident that before a child can reason and is, pleasure is impaired or not experienced. before reason can establish principles of moral Additional neural impulses or neural energy would behavior, the course of an ethical and moral life has be required to enable the neural events of already been set. somatosensory stimulation to reach their final destination in the brain. This additional "assist" may lf we are to substantially change human behavior, be provided by the physical contact and we must change the functional charactetistics of the "excitement" associated with violent and aggressive human brain; and this can be best achieved through acts. lf pleasure results under these conditions. then the "control" and "regulation" of the sensory the common association of sex and violence environment of the developing infant and child. This becomes more understandable. point of view i's in concert with that of B. F. Skinner

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