Gerald F. Ronning MD
Psychiatry 
Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy
Neurology
Psychoanalytic and Linguistic Research

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current research projects conducted by
Gerald F. Ronning

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ADOLESCENT VIOLENCE AND DEVELOPMENT: ​
WHAT WE'RE MISSING


Draft of Abstract
Gerald F. Ronning, MD

The purpose of this research is to predict violence and suicidal attempts in adolescents. Conventional wisdom says that adolescents who can use words to express emotions will be less violent and have a better outcome than those teens that lack the ability to express themselves. However, our preliminary data shows that the mere capacity to express feelings is not in itself indicative of healthy emotional development.​

We have found that while all adolescents tend to express themselves in florid and often dramatic fashion, violent adolescents show a greater tendency to express certain types of inner states. It is this capacity to use words and symbols in a compelling and evocative way that is actually positively associated with violence. Yet, the ability to use words and other symbols to express emotions and impulses is only one side of the coin. The obverse side is the ability to then reflect on these emotion-laden words and symbols in a narrative story. It is the unfolding over time of this dynamic, dialectical process between expression and reflection that is the essence of optimal psychological development in adolescence. (see sample graphs)

The tragic school shootings at Columbine and on the Red Lake Indian Reservation have demonstrated an urgent need to gain further insight into adolescent violence. Jeffery Weise, Eric Harris and Matthew Murray left extensive written public records of their thoughts and musings in Internet journals during the 12 to 18 months prior to the shootings.This qualitative narrative data was analyzed and interpreted in collaboration with Wilma Bucci. Bernard Maskit processed the internet texts using the DAAP (Discourse Attributes Analysis Program) that he has developed. I subsequently analyzed the data using the LIWC2007 (Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count) developed by James W. Pennebaker et al. The results of these analyses of the Weise, Harris and Murray Internet postings were then compared with findings from standardized written autobiographies I had previously collected of hospitalized, violent and suicidal teenage girls. The findings from this research address clinical and developmental issues that profoundly affect the understanding and treatment of adolescents. The patterns that have emerged show great promise to predict outcome of teen violence.

SUMMARY​
-Narrative and violence are essential aspects of development.​
-The interplay of between narrative style and violence describes the trajectory​
 of development over time.​
-Clinically significant behavior represents a breakdown of the developmental​
 trajectory and is an exaggeration and intensification of creative, adaptive or​
 compensatory responses to the crisis.​
-Violence and evocative language are equivalent and reflect the teen's efforts​
 to resume development and compensate for developmental deficiencies.​
-RA (emotional/evocative) and REF (reflective/intellectual) covariation are​
 markers that predict outcome in violent and suicidal adolescents.​
-There is a marked and characteristic difference in the trajectories of those​
 teens that recover and two cases who had a lethal outcome​
-Internet Journals are an unexplored resource in the understanding youth​
 violence and suicide.

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