Re: Dr. Mate's theory of ADHD being caused by early adversity

[Ivriniel]

Sounds to me like the same old “blame the parents” crap. Does he also say that Autism is caused by “Refrigerator Mothers”? *rolleyes*

ETA: Ok, having read the interview, I think he is genuinely concerned about society, but is mixing ideology with his science:

“Well, if people’s behaviors and dysfunctions are regulated, controlled and determined by genes, we don’t have to look at child welfare policies, we don’t have to look at the kind of support that we give to pregnant women, we don’t have to look at the kind of non-support that we give to families, so that, you know, most children in North America now have to be away from their parents from an early age on because of economic considerations. And especially in the States, because of the welfare laws, women are forced to go find low-paying jobs far away from home, often single women, and not see their kids for most of the day. Under those conditions, kids’ brains don’t develop the way they need to.

And so, if it’s all caused by genetics, we don’t have to look at those social policies; we don’t have to look at our politics that disadvantage certain minority groups, so cause them more stress, cause them more pain, in other words, more predisposition for addictions; we don’t have to look at economic inequalities. If it’s all genes, it’s all—we’re all innocent, and society doesn’t have to take a hard look at its own attitudes and policies.”

The quote here reminds me of an essay I once read by Stephen Jay Gould on William Jennings Bryan, the prosecutor in the “Scope’s Monkey Trial” (A trial that prosecuted an American teacher for teaching the theory of evolution to his students). Gould points out that until the trial, Bryan had been considered a progressive, and that most of his biographers consider his role in the trial to be an aberration. Gould on the other hand, sees Bryan’s role in the trial as consistent with his work on Social Justice. He says Bryan saw evolution being misapplied in the social realm and being used as an excuse for social inequities and it was this that he actually opposed.

I think Dr. Mate concern that society looks for ways to get itself off the hook for social injustice is valid. (If the misery of the poor be caused not by the laws of nature, but by our institutions, great is our sin. – Charles Darwin) I do not think that this ideological stance should be used an excuse to ignore the science, which points to a genetic basis for ADHD.

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