Gretchen J. Diefenbach, Donald Diefenbach, Alan Baumeister & Mark West (1999) Portrayal of Lobotomy in the Popular Press: 1935-1960, Journal of the History of the Neurosciences, 8:1, 60-69, DOI: 10.1076/jhin.8.1.60.1766

Butler University

Many articles were written when the first case of a lobotomy was performed. After hearing about it being a "cure" to mental illness, many people rushed to try to get the surgery for their loved ones. It was seen as a scapegoat for "irrational behavior" and the perfect "fix" for "madness." It was publicized in magazines, radios, television, and more.

Media Portrayal of Lobotomies in 1935-1960

Reference

Before this procedure was even done on a human safely before, Walter Freeman was an avid lover of the surgery. He was not seen in a positive light by researchers for his lack of evidence on the effectiveness of the procedure, but once it first hit the news, he started writing even more about it. Many researchers who were in favor of the procedure were very disturbed by how the media jumped right into supporting it with little evidence. 

The Start of the Media Writing about Lobotomies

Two tests were done for both the qualitative and quantitative data to measure the perceptions of the surgeries by the public. For the qualitative evidence, authors were instructed to read past work in time blocks and review the overall themes they found. For the quantitative evidence, people were given articles and were told to rate their agreeableness on a scale of 1-5.

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