Behavior Modifying "Shock Devices"

[Jazzy]

A U.S. Food and Drug Administration panel is meeting Thursday to discuss a ban on using "electrical stimulation devices" to modify aggressive or self-injurious behavior in people with severe emotional problems or developmental disorders such as autism.

"The FDA has grown concerned that serious risks of using these devices may outweigh the benefits for patients with limited intellectual ability or developmental disabilities, and that they may pose an unreasonable and substantial risk of illness or injury to patients," agency spokeswoman Jennifer Rodriguez said.

The zapping devices are used as an "aversion therapy" technique at a center in Massachusetts that serves children and adults with serious special needs.

To its knowledge, the Judge Rotenberg Educational Center in Canton, Mass., is the only facility using the devices in an attempt to change behavior, the FDA said in background material released prior to the meeting.

Proponents of the shock technique say it discourages aggressive or self-injurious behavior. The students will stop punching themselves or others, for instance, to avoid being zapped, the thinking goes.

Disability advocates have urged the FDA to ban these controversial tools. The United Nations has said use of electro-shock devices by the Rotenberg Center constitutes a violation of the UN Convention Against Torture, according to the FDA report.

Full article

What are your thoughts about the use of these "electrical stimulation devices" ?

 

[DrLeftover]

If a Tazer will not take down a violent mental patient, how is a 'shock collar' going to make them do or not do something?

 

[Evil Eye]

Shock therapy is still a thing? This isn't the 1800s...