‘Surgeon general takes on violenc

By GEORGE WILL

 

   

(c.) The Washington Post Co.

WASHINGTON — With his beard and armor-piercing gaze, Dr. C.
Everett Koop resembles an Old Testament prophet iho has discovered.
his neighbors making graven images. Actually, he is not fierce, but is
determined to be heard, which is good because that is his job. He is.

- Surgeon general of the United States. os noe -
The surgeon general's job includes monitoring the health of the

American people, publicizing significant findings, and using information

george will

 

to change behavior, as has been done with several reports.on smoking. | CLUES INCLUDE the fact that homicidal children tend to have,
Having saved millions of lives and billions of dollars, the Surgeon _ histories of attempted suicides and of psychomotor seizures. Many have,
General's Office has done more good per dollar spent than any other seen or been victims of family violence. Many have mothers who have,
federal office. . : Se Chg v eee De - had in-patient psychiatric care. High-risk families tend to be socially.”
a ee isolated, lacking sae riendships and subject to — from even such;
' RECENTLY KOOP expanded slightly the “scope ‘of his office’s common social transactions as s Ppping and using public transportation. ,
‘Monitoring. Speaking to the American Academy of Pediatrics, Koop, a, Koop wants physicians to be sensitive to the Signals of personal and.-
pediatrician, urged physicians generally but pediatricians especially to family stress, and to master the growing wicks et ihe predisposi.
consider violence as a treatable public-health problem. Statistics show _ tion to violence. He believes there should be i‘ e ume nets counseling .
there are periods when there’ are striking changes in the incidence of or referral service as if the patient showed a predisposition to
violence. We now are in one, which began in the late 1960s. Koop thinks it Cardiovascular disease, obesity or diabetes. Physicians, he notes, do not
unlikely that mortality rates from violent acts will return tothe levels of hesitate to counsel patients with hypertension to avoid salt or sh
the early 1960s. Sugars. “Similarly, if we have a patient with a predisposition for vio, ent
We have neither the historical distance nor, Perhaps, the analytic behavior, especially against family members, I think we need to advise
capability to say what has happened to cause the increased violence. But _ that patient to get some professional counseling and also suggest that he.
Koop believes violence is “treatable” in this sense: We know enough or she monitor their entertainment menu’ and avoid the kinds of
about the symptoms of violent personality in children and parents to television or motion-picture fare that stimulates and contributes to the
make diagnostic, predictive and preventative decisions. violence in their personalities.”