(Originally posted for The Voice of Heard on
December 3, 2011)
Note: In reposting this article, I had to fix a few broken links and search for a few new images, mainly that of a Graduated Electronic Decelerator (GED) Credit for some of the photos goes to the staff responsible for the CBC 1993 "Eye to Eye" report and Larry Sultan, the photographer who accompanied Jennifer Gonnerman when she visited the JRC in 2007 for her Mother Jones article.
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| Above: The front entrance of the Judge Rotenberg Center, located in Canton, Massachusetts, 20 miles outside of Boston. |
Using Google, I have found and read recent news articles regarding the
Judge Rotenberg Center, the controversial special education center for children
and young people with disabilities, including but not limited to autism, mental
retardation, and emotional problems. What makes this particular
school/facility controversial is because it is the only one of its kind in the
country that shocks these children and young people as a form of treatment and
discipline.
My
article on the JRC was one of the first entries I have written since
the WCCA TV13 station, which makes this blog possible, remodeled its website
and archived the old version of my blog, making the update with WordPress
necessary. I had hoped to receive comments that would prompt discussion
of the school, its practices, and its unethical treatment of the students
under its care. Unfortunately, as I mentioned in my last entry, my
JRC article had received nothing but spam. I hope that this one would get
more readers to voice their comments after reading it. I do not find it
necessary to go over the entire history of the Judge Rotenberg Center as it had
been done by many investigative journalists. The most reliable information
for that can be found in
a 2006
report written by staff from the New York State Education Department (NYSED)
who investigated the center,
a Mother Jones
magazine article written on August 2007 by a journalist who
researched it for an entire year, and
a 2010 report written by MentalDisability Rights International (MDRI) in an urgent appeal to the United Nations. The
focus of this entry is a summary about the JRC’s aversive treatment
programs being applied to its students; recent news regarding legal actions
taken against the JRC will also be discussed.
For starters, aversive treatment is basically behavior modification
that rewards positive, or good, behaviors and punishes negative, or bad,
behaviors. The reward aspect of the JRC is a program in which students are
awarded tokens for displaying positive behaviors. These tokens are then
used as currency to buy prizes at the center’s Rewards Store. The
punishment aspect, the main focus of this entry, is the main focus of the legal
debate regarding the Judge Rotenberg Center’s treatment of children and young
adults with various forms of disabilities. (Note: Some
of the images displayed below contain graphic and disturbing content. Reader
discretion is strongly advised.)
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| One of the Graduated Electronic Decelerators, or GEDs, used at the Judge Rotenberg Center. |
The device used in the shock treatments is called the Graduated
Electronic Decelerator, or GED, invented around 1990 by the JRC’s founder, Dr.
Matthew Israel. The GED consists of three parts: a transmitter
carried by a JRC employee, a receiver worn by a JRC student, and a battery that
powers the receiver. Since the latter two are both connected together,
they are stored in a battery pack holder which a student wears in
either a belt pack or a backpack. On a single press of a button, the
transmitter sends a signal to the receiver to deliver an electric current to
the students skin via electrodes located on various parts of the body. The
end result is a skin shock that lasts than two seconds. The JRC uses two
versions of the GED. The original on delivers an average current of 15.5
mA rms. The newer model, called the GED-4, delivers a stronger and more
painful shock at 45.0 mA rms. According to the Occupational Safety and
Health Administration (OSHA), 45.0 mA rms is enough to cause extreme pain, respiratory
arrest, severe muscular contractions, and the possibility of death. All
students administered to the school are required to wear the GED at all times
24 hours a day. Early in November,
the
Massachusetts Department of Developmental Services (DDC) made regulations
banning the JRC from using the GEDs on any future students/patients. Unfortunately,
the students who have been there for years are still currently getting electric
shock treatments.
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| A JRC student wearing a backpack, which contains the battery pack for his GED. |
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| A JRC student wears a belt pack, which contains a battery pack for his GED. The wires and electrodes connected to the device can be visibly seen underneath the clothes. |
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| This diagram displays the locations in which electrodes for the GED are placed on the bodies of JRC students. |
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| A JRC staff member observing a student. Note that the pictures on individual transmitters hanging from the staff member's belt are used to identify specific students to be shocked. |
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| A JRC staff member keeps watch on a student. |
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| A JRC instructor talks to a student. |
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A JRC student holding a pet turtle and wearing a hand-holster shock device specifically designed specifically for those with extremely self-abusive or aggressive behaviors.
|
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| A side view of the hand-holster shock device. |
The JRC staff
also uses physical and mechanical restraining methods on students who
misbehave. Examples of mechanical restraints include a four-point platform
board, a helmet that deprives the wearer of his/her senses, and a five-point
restraint chair. Students are also required to carry restraint straps in a
bag at all times, giving it the name “restraint bag.” Sometimes, students
are restrained for hours or even days. Restraints are sometimes used in
conjunction with the GED.
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| A child is restrained at the waist, arms, chest, groin and feet in an isolation room. This photo was one of a few taken by news reporter Connie Chung in her CBS "Eye to Eye" report on the JRC in 1994. This was also used in the first few pages on the MDRI's "Torture Not Treatment" report. |
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| Above: Leg cuffs used to restrain children in chairs. Below: A child lies face-down on a four-point restraint board attached to a GED. These two photos were also taken by Connie Chung for her CBS "Eye to Eye" report on the JRC in 1994 and also used in the MRDI's "Torture Not Treatment" report, the latter photo being used on the cover page. |
The center also uses food programs as a means to force students to be
compliant. There are two types of food programs: the Contingent Food Program
and the Specialized Food Program. The Contingent Food Program requires
that a student “earn” a prescribed portion by not engaging in any target
behaviors in accordance to his/her so-called behavioral contract. If the
student passes the contract, he/she will get 100% of the calories for each meal
served. If the student fails to pass one or more of the contracts, the
food portions are not earned and discarded. If the minimal total of daily
calories is not earned by 7 PM, the student receives compensation in
the form of make-up food, which consists of mashed food sprinkled
with liver powder. The Specialized Food Program is the more restrictive, and more severe, of the two. For students under that program, they get no
make-up food to compensate for their failure to complete their behavioral
contracts; they just go hungry.
Original Comments
Candy
March 24th, 2012 at 1:59 am
.The first part of the sentence “When you [criticize] a treatment that works…” presumes that the treatment does indeed work.I would posit that the treatment has little effect, except in the short term. Also, with any treatment, you have to look at all of the effects to determine whether it is “working” or not.On the one hand, if you use a cattle prod (or wires hooked up to a battery) you can get people to behave in a certain fashion, in the short term. The Nazis and North Vietnamese proved this quite nicely. The questions are 1) whether long term behavioral effects are generally sustained once the “treatments” stop?, 2) what are the side effects to those who are being shocked?, and 3) is the treatment ethical?To the first question, I have not seen studies that look at long term outcomes, and compare this type of “treatment” to other, more conventional treatments. As to the second, there is no question that long after physical shocks have stopped, emotional and psychological scarring remains. This is not surprising, as this is consistent with what occurs after people have been tortured. Finally, one would have a hard time justifying shocking someone (or starving them, for that matter) as being ethical treatment. If (and this is a BIG if) there was absolutely NO other treatment that worked, and the person was causing irreparable harm to themselves, then MAYBE such treatments could be justified as part of a comprehensive treatment plan. But let’s look at what Israel uses this for. He’s not only using it for the “hard core” cases, he uses it for kids being non-compliant and such things as “nagging their teacher”. There’s NO way you’re ever going to be able to justify shocking people for nagging or being non-compliant. That just flies in the face of common sense and common decency.As to the “hard core” cases, I would put forth that the majority of them have NOT been tried on what might work for them, namely intensive scrutiny by highly trained individuals to look for triggers that set them off, therapy and accommodations to address those triggers, and intensive therapy to improve communication with them.Rather than employ a large cadre of highly trained psychologists, Israel employs a large group of low skilled people with buttons to push to shock people. There is no attempt at providing any therapy to the inmates at his “school”, and little education, either. So even for “hard core” cases, I find it unethical at this time, as the hurdles to justify such treatment have yet to be surmounted.As much as Israel’s “treatments” cost, it is cheaper for states to ignore the vast majority of kids with issues and put the ones they can’t get thrown into the judicial system into Israel’s little house of horrors.Joe
geraldine corrigan
April 8th, 2012 at 10:59 pm
I had no idea this barbaric practice existed until today. I asked to experience (be strapped into) this backpack/arm strap/stomach strap device and have the “treatment” done to me. I should have stated that a student of the JRC was with us today as we celebrated Easter dinner. Anyway, The student’s caretaker told me that it” was a therapy for behavior problems and that the shock was “nothing” and was the same as the feeling of a bee sting, about 2 seconds in duration. My actual experience is quite contrary!. I TELL YOU FROM PERSONAL EXPERIENCE TODAY, THIS IS AN INSANE TREATMENT TO HUMANS. ESPECIALLY THOSE PEOPLE WHO CANNOT EXPRESS/VERBAL/SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES. Action must be taken to stop this abuse.
Sr Louise
December 5th, 2013 at 2:39 pm
i cannot believe that they are still allowed to use those methods on students who have already endured such horrors without intervention. “That is not acceptable practice ~ except for those who have already been traumatized & damaged by its infliction….” where is the ethical logic in that? Should we not rescue, as well as prevent? i would love to have a current update on what is/is not going on @ JRC and its sister schools on the West Coast.
Sr Louise
December 5th, 2013 at 2:40 pm
where would i be able to find more current info? i am not as computer savvy as i would like to be… not certain how to best access reliable non-sensationalized sources.
December 10th, 2013 at 8:25 pm
One place to find more current information regarding the JRC is my second blog Loud and Strong, which can be access by either clicking on the words Loud and Strong on the right side of the entry or typing the URL directly (loudstrong.blogspot.com). Please note that I have not updated it for five months due to a busy schedule regarding work and college. I will make sure to post a new entry regarding this issue as soon as possible.
Jacob
March 19th, 2014 at 5:23 am
The episode of “Eye to Eye with Connie Chung” episode name “Shock Value; Painting by Numbers.” aired March 3 1994, is an episode I am looking for. The person interviewed in the episode is a friend of mine and lost his copy. I’ve been trying to find this. Thanks
PS I saved this page to to favorites under my “JRC” folder.
Thanks
Sheogorath
July 29th, 2014 at 9:54 pm
During a legal hearing in April, a surveillance video from the JRC shot in 2002 was shown in which an 18-year-old autistic man was enduring seven hours being strapped face down on the floor and shocked 31 times for refusing to take off his jacket.
FTFY. After all, someone is a legal adult once they’re 18, amirite?
Sheogorath
July 30th, 2014 at 2:30 am
Um, my comment was in response to something I read in your blogpost here, and I don’t understand how it’s ended up in the comments feed for this post.
July 30th, 2014 at 12:50 pm
The most likely explanation I can think of is that you wrote the comment intended for one post below another post without realizing it. My suggestion would be to copy the comment, check the blog for the post titled Judge Rotenberg Center: Taking a Stand vs Turning a Blind Eye, and post it below that since you were responding to that post.
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