Smoking Mothers and Criminally Violent Sons

The effect of cigarette smoke on the unborn fetus, and the correlation with criminally violent children, supports the provocative claims made by Thomas Verney nearly twenty years ago. The insights of Stanton Samenow and Alfred Adler can additional useful perspectives. Excerpts from a series of recent articles, express a growing concern for the dangers to infants.

"A a study of 4,000 Danish men shows that mothers who smoke a pack or more a day are twice as likely to produce criminally violent sons. There even appears to be a dose response: those who smoked fewer cigarettes had less violent boys. Why the correlation? No one is sure, but chemicals in smoke may damage the fetal brain." (From Time magazine, March 29, 1999, page 225.)

"Women who smoke during pregnancy are at risk for premature birth, pregnancy complications, low-birthweight infants, stillbirth, and a higher rate of infant mortality. For pregnant women and new mothers, smoking puts their baby at risk for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), poor lung development, asthma, and respiratory infections." (From "Smoking and Pregnancy" at http://www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/fact/smokpreg.htm.

"Cigarettes are another major hazard to the unborn. Smoking cuts the supply of oxygen available in the maternal blood and, without an adequate flow of oxygen, fetal tissue growth may be slow. At age seven, children of smoking mothers tend to have more problems learning to read and a higher rate of psychological disorders than other youngsters." Verney also suggests that the diminished oxygen supply to the fetus thrusts him into a state of chronic uncertainty and fear." (From "The Secret Life of the Unborn Child," by Thomas Verney.)

"A lasting and pervasive fear develops within the criminal at an early age. Despite a sense of adventure and even recklessness, the criminal is preoccupied with various fears that are consistent throughout his life. For instance, a criminal may be exceedingly afraid of trivial matters, such as heights, water, or even driving. Samenow believes that although the causes of such fears may be traceable to early traumatic experiences or specific teachings, most probably have an unknowable origin." (From a review of Stanton Samenow's "The Criminal Personality" by C.T. Genre at http://www.criminology.fsu.edu/crimtheory/samenow.htm ).

From an Adlerian perspective, an early experience of chronic anxiety and fear, even struggling to survive, could lead to an impression of life as hostile and dangerous. One way to compensate for this dreaded feeling of weakness and insecurity would be to make others feel threatened through violence. Witnessing the victim's intense terror might temporarily relieve the criminal's personal anxiety like a tranquilizing drug.

Theoretically, it might be possible to identify "at risk" infants very early in life and provide them with an extra fortification of warmth, empathy, and understanding to counteract the chemically induced anxiety. This would support Adler's assumption that only a deep level of a feeling of community can counteract intense feelings of inferiority and insecurity. Without this correction, a striving for power over others is very likely.

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Re: Smoking Mothers and Criminally Violent Sons, by , 2/20/00

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