Citation

Hall RCW, Hatters Friedman S. J. Am. Acad. Psychiatry Law 2020; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, Publisher American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law)

DOI

10.29158/JAAPL.200041-20

PMID

33023900

Abstract

Comic books have been part of popular culture since the 1930s. Social activists quickly became concerned about the risk that comic books posed for youth, including that their content was a cause of juvenile delinquency. Dr. Fredric Wertham, a forensic psychiatrist, led efforts to protect society's children from comic books, culminating in multiple publications, symposia, and testimony before a Senate subcommittee on juvenile delinquency in 1954. During the course of his activities, and quite possibly as a backlash, comics started to represent psychiatrists and particularly forensic psychiatrists as evil, clueless, and narcissistic characters (e.g., Dr. Hugo Strange went from being a mad scientist to a mad psychiatrist). Clinical forensic psychiatrists who were not necessarily evil were often portrayed as inept regarding rehabilitation. There are very few positive portrayals of forensic psychiatrists in the comic book universe, and when they do occur, they often have severe character flaws or a checkered history. These negative characterizations are woven into the fabric of contemporary comic book characters, whether represented in comic books or other media offshoots such as films and television.

Language: en

Keywords

stigma; comics; forensic psychiatry; Fredric Wertham; moral panic; popular culture