Carole Lieberman is an American medical doctor, psychiatrist, and author who has provided expert witness testimony for cases that have included the
murder of Scott Amedure. She gained attention in 2011 due to comments she made suggesting video games cause aggression and lead to sexual assault.
Biography
Carole Lieberman was born and raised in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...
. She received her medical degree from Belgium's
Université Catholique de Louvain
The Université catholique de Louvain (also known as the Catholic University of Louvain, the English translation of its French name, and the University of Louvain, its official English name) is Belgium's largest French-speaking university. It ...
and received her psychiatric residency training at
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, ...
,
Bellevue, where she was Chief Resident. She studied in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, England at the
Anna Freud
Anna Freud (3 December 1895 – 9 October 1982) was a British psychoanalyst of Austrian-Jewish descent. She was born in Vienna, the sixth and youngest child of Sigmund Freud and Martha Bernays. She followed the path of her father and contribu ...
Hampstead Clinic as well as the Institute of Psychiatry/Maudsley Hospital. She is a diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. She received her Master's of Public Health degree from the
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...
where she also serves as a member of Clinical Faculty in the department of Psychiatry.
Lieberman has appeared as a media expert for TV news, radio talk shows, print publications, and other media outlets. She has appeared on The Dr. Phil show; The Insider: Celebrity Stalking and the Role of Social Media, CBS news, NBC news, ABC news, KTLA news, The Morton Report, news blogs and other media resources in both the U.S. and abroad.
Lieberman has appeared before the
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washi ...
providing testimony at the Congressional Hearing of the Subcommittee on
National Security, International Affairs, and Criminal Justice of the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight - "Report from the Front Line: The Drug War in Hollywood"; she provided a statement at U.S.
Senator Kent Conrad
Gaylord Kent Conrad (born March 12, 1948) is a former American politician who was a United States Senator from North Dakota. He is a member of the North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party, the North Dakota affiliate of the Democratic Party. First ele ...
(D-North Dakota) Press Conference to announce the formation of a Citizens Task Force on TV Violence; she appeared before the
U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee
The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the Department of Justice (DOJ), consider executive and judicial nominations ...
Joint Hearing, Constitution Subcommittee chaired by
Senator Paul Simon
Paul Martin Simon (November 29, 1928 – December 9, 2003) was an American author and politician from Illinois. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1975 to 1985 and in the United States Senate from 1985 to 1997. A member ...
(D-Illinois) and the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Crime and Criminal Justice – "10 Point Plan to Sweep Violence Off TV and Off Our Streets"
Lieberman made comments on Court TV in December of 2022, where she incorrectly correlated autism with psychological disorder, including homicidal behavior. She tends to speak without regard to others or to facts. She does nothing to take accountability for her reckless ignorance.
Video games incident
During a February 2011 interview with
FOX News
The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is ...
, Lieberman claimed that there existed a correlation between violent video games and sexual assault: "The increase in rapes can be attributed in large part to the playing out of
exualscenes in video games". However, in ''
Wired
''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San Fran ...
'' magazine, journalist Jason Schreier wrote that when asked "multiple times to clarify her comments, she failed to cite a single study, statistic or piece of evidence that proved her point."
[Schreier, Jason (February 11, 2011]
Playing the Rape Card: 'Media Psychiatrist' Ratchets Up Anti-Videogame Rhetoric
''Wired
''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San Fran ...
'' Lieberman eventually responded with a single study to support her case as of February 14, 2011: "Violent Video Game Effects on Aggression, Empathy, and Prosocial Behavior in Eastern and Western Countries: A Meta-Analytic Review". However, the article makes no mention of sexual crime. Her claims were also ridiculed by Douglas Gentile, a professor at
Iowa State University
Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the ...
who studies the relationship between media and violence. Gentile, who "has been researching violence in media since 1999
ndhas written books and studies about the psychological effects of videogames," said of Lieberman's claims: "I don't know where
hewould get any evidence for this opinion. There's really very little to substantiate her claims in research literature."
[ The ]Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential econom ...
ratings of Lieberman's books plummeted, apparently in response to this controversy.
Books and publications
*''Bad Girls: Why Men Love Them & How Good Girls Can Learn Their Secrets'', Cogito Media 2010
*''Coping with Terrorism: Dreams Interrupted'', co-authored by Mike Darton. European Atlantic Publications 2006
*''Bad Boys: Why We Love Them, How to Live with Them & When to Leave Them'' Dutton/Signet 1997
*''Reflection of the Early Theological Education of Martin Heidegger (a psychological profile)'', Journal of Religious Studies, 9 #2: 34-41
*''Problems of Women Psychiatric Residents'' Psychiatric Quarterly, 53 #3: 175-177
*"Schizo-Affective Illness Defies the Dichotomy...And Keeps DSM III Pondering," Schizophrenia Bulletin, 5 #3: 436-440
*"The Existential 'School' of Thought...A Study of Existentialism and Education," The Clearing House
*"Ambiguity in the Treatment of the Concept of God in Sein and Zeit (Being and Time) as a Reflection of the Early Theological Education of Martin Heidegger" (a psychological profile), Journal of Religious Studies, 9 #2: 34-41
*"Compulsive Shopping" – Encyclopædia Britannica
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lieberman, Carole
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
New York University alumni
UCLA School of Public Health alumni
American psychiatrists
American non-fiction writers
People from Beverly Hills, California
American women psychiatrists
American women non-fiction writers
21st-century American women