Robert Bartholomew (sociologist)
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Robert Emerson Bartholomew (born August 17, 1958) is an American medical sociologist, journalist and author living in New Zealand. He is an Honorary Senior Lecturer in the Department of Psychological Medicine at the
University of Auckland The University of Auckland (; Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. Initially loc ...
in New Zealand. He writes for several newspapers and journals on sociological and fringe science topics, including ''
Psychology Today ''Psychology Today'' is an American media organization with a focus on psychology and human behavior. The publication began as a bimonthly magazine, which first appeared in 1967. The print magazine's reported circulation is 275,000 as of 2023. ...
'', ''
Skeptical Inquirer ''Skeptical Inquirer'' (S.I.) is a bimonthly American general-audience magazine published by the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI) with the subtitle "The Magazine for Science and Reason". The magazine initially focused on investigating clai ...
'', and British magazines '' The Skeptic'' and ''
Fortean Times ''Fortean Times'' is a British monthly magazine devoted to the anomalous phenomena popularised by Charles Fort. Previously published by John Brown Publishing (from 1991 to 2001), I Feel Good Publishing (from 2001 to 2005), Dennis Publishing (from ...
''.


Education

Bartholomew first obtained a radio broadcasting certificate studying at SUNY Adirondack in 1977 followed in 1979 by a
bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...
in communications at Plattsburgh. By 1984 he had been awarded a
master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...
in American sociology at
State University of New York The State University of New York (SUNY ) is a system of Public education, public colleges and universities in the New York (state), State of New York. It is one of the List of largest universities and university networks by enrollment, larges ...
. In 1992 he gained a masters in Australian sociology from
Flinders University Flinders University, established as The Flinders University of South Australia is a public university, public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia, with a footprint extending across a number of locations in South Australia and ...
in
Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...
, South Australia followed by a doctorate in sociology from
James Cook University James Cook University (JCU) is a public university in North Queensland, Australia. The second oldest university in Queensland, JCU is a teaching and research institution. The university's main campuses are located in the tropical cities of Cair ...
in
Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
, Australia. Finally, in 2001 he gained his teaching qualification from Upper Valley Teachers Institute in
social studies In many countries' curricula, social studies is the combined study of humanities, the arts, and social sciences, mainly including history, economics, and civics. The term was coined by American educators around the turn of the twentieth century as ...
.


Academic work

Bartholomew has also lived and worked in Malaysia and in 2009 worked in sociology at International University College of Technology. In April 2010 he took up a teaching position at Botany Downs Secondary College in Auckland, New Zealand. He is currently an Honorary Senior Lecturer in the Department of Psychological Medicine at the University of Auckland in New Zealand. In 2012, Bartholomew published ''Australia's forgotten children: The corrupt state of education in the Northern Territory: A case study of educational apartheid at an aboriginal pretend school'' in which he uncovered human rights abuses of indigenous Australian aboriginal children who were being exposed to harmful
asbestos Asbestos ( ) is a group of naturally occurring, Toxicity, toxic, carcinogenic and fibrous silicate minerals. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous Crystal habit, crystals, each fibre (particulate with length su ...
in the
Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...
with the knowledge of the Northern Territory
Department of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...
. Bartholomew's principal area of academic contribution is in the field of
mass psychogenic illness Mass psychogenic illness (MPI), also called mass sociogenic illness, mass psychogenic disorder, epidemic hysteria or mass hysteria, involves the spread of illness symptoms through a population where there is no infectious agent responsible for c ...
, previously known as mass hysteria, both historical and present day cases, an area he has been studying for over 25 years. He has written extensively about 600 notable instances including the
Salem witch trials The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in Province of Massachusetts Bay, colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. More than 200 people were accused. Not everyone wh ...
, the 2011 Le Roy illness, which Bartholomew has described as "the first case of this magnitude to occur in the U.S. during the social networking era", and present-day manifestations, most of which he has said have yet to be studied in-depth by sociologists. In 2016, Bartholomew investigated the 2012 case of an outbreak of
hiccup A hiccup (scientific name singultus, from Latin for "sob, hiccup"; also spelled hiccough) is an spasm, involuntary contraction (myoclonic jerk) of the diaphragm (anatomy), diaphragm that may repeat several times per minute. The hiccup is an in ...
s in
Danvers, Massachusetts Danvers is a New England town, town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, located on the Danvers River near the northeastern coast of Massachusetts. The suburb is a fairly short ride from Boston and is also in close proximity to the beach ...
(originally Old Salem village), in which 24 young people were stricken with apparently uncontrollable hiccups. After requesting and reviewing state documents from the original investigation, he concluded the most likely explanation was a
psychogenic A psychogenic effect is one that originates from the brain instead of other physical organs (i.e. the cause is psychological rather than physiological) and may refer to: *Psychogenic pain *Psychogenic disease *Psychogenic amnesia *Psychogenic coug ...
conversion disorder Conversion disorder (CD) was a formerly diagnosed psychiatric disorder characterized by abnormal sensory experiences and movement problems during periods of high psychological stress. Individuals diagnosed with CD presented with highly distressin ...
affecting the (predominantly) girls involved. He publicly stated the
Massachusetts Department of Public Health The Massachusetts Department of Public Health is a governmental agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts with various responsibilities related to public health within that state. It is headquartered in Boston and headed bCommissioner Robbie G ...
had "knowingly issued an inaccurate, incomplete report...They have an obligation to issue accurate diagnoses, and patients have a right to know what made them sick" and filed official complaints of malpractice. Bartholomew has also drawn attention to the role of the internet in acting as an "
echo chamber Echo chamber of the Dresden University of Technology Hamilton Mausoleum has a long-lasting unplanned echo An echo chamber is a hollow enclosure used to produce reverberation, usually for recording purposes. A traditional echo chamber is cove ...
" for spreading moral outrage; for example on
social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...
, pedophile allegations used as political weapons by supporters of the
far right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and Nativism (politics), nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on ...
against liberal celebrities, which mirrors earlier public outrage which took the form of the
Red Scare A Red Scare is a form of moral panic provoked by fear of the rise of left-wing ideologies in a society, especially communism and socialism. Historically, red scares have led to mass political persecution, scapegoating, and the ousting of thos ...
(particularly
McCarthyism McCarthyism is a political practice defined by the political repression and persecution of left-wing individuals and a Fear mongering, campaign spreading fear of communist and Soviet influence on American institutions and of Soviet espionage i ...
) and the Lavender scare against homosexuals in US government positions. Bartholomew is frequently interviewed as an expert on topics as diverse as the "Pokémon Panic" of 1997, the spread of UFO conspiracy theories, the 2016 clown panic (which he suggested was a
moral panic A moral panic is a widespread feeling of fear that some evil person or thing threatens the values, interests, or well-being of a community or society. It is "the process of arousing social concern over an issue", usually perpetuated by moral e ...
fueled by social media in response to a fear of strangers and terrorism), the viral spread of online fads such as ''
Pokémon Go ''Pokémon Go'' (stylized as ''Pokémon GO'') is a 2016 augmented reality (AR) mobile game originally developed and published by Niantic in collaboration with Nintendo and The Pokémon Company for iOS and Android devices. It uses mobile devic ...
'', and
Havana syndrome Havana syndrome, also known as anomalous health incidents (AHIs), is a disputed medical condition. Starting in 2016, U.S. and Canadian government officials and their families reported symptoms of AHIs in about a dozen overseas locations. Repor ...
, the suspected energy weapon attacks against American and Canadian government personnel which began in 2016, about which he said: In 2020, Bartholomew co-authored ''Havana Syndrome: Mass Psychogenic Illness and the Real Story Behind the Embassy Mystery and Hysteria'', a book on the sonic attack controversy in Cuba, with Professor Robert W. Baloh, a neurologist at the
UCLA Medical Center Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center (also commonly referred to as UCLA Medical Center, RRMC or Ronald Reagan) is a hospital located on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), in Westwood, Los Angeles, California, United S ...
. The book document dozens of similar examples of disorders that have essentially the same features as "Havana Syndrome", but were given different labels, from the 18th century belief that sounds from certain musical instruments were harmful to human health, to contemporary panics involving people living near wind turbines. In March 2020, Bartholomew was invited to attend a medical conference in Havana, Cuba, on the "attacks", where he repeated the claim that stress-induced mass psychogenic illness was the most likely cause. In 2020, Bartholomew's self-published ''No Māori Allowed: New Zealand's Forgotten History of Racial Segregation'', which looked at the history of segregation and discrimination against
Māori people Māori () are the Indigenous peoples of Oceania, indigenous Polynesians, Polynesian people of mainland New Zealand. Māori originated with settlers from East Polynesia, who arrived in New Zealand in several waves of Māori migration canoes, c ...
in the Auckland suburb of
Pukekohe Pukekohe is a town in the Auckland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. The town is located at the southern edge of the Auckland Region, between the southern shore of the Manukau Harbour and the mouth of the Waikato River. The hills of Puke ...
. His research found that 73% (237) of all Māori deaths aged 14 years and under in Pukekohe between 1925 and 1961 were caused by preventable conditions linked to poverty and poor housing such as
bronchitis Bronchitis is inflammation of the bronchi (large and medium-sized airways) in the lungs that causes coughing. Bronchitis usually begins as an infection in the nose, ears, throat, or sinuses. The infection then makes its way down to the bronchi. ...
,
diphtheria Diphtheria is an infection caused by the bacteria, bacterium ''Corynebacterium diphtheriae''. Most infections are asymptomatic or have a mild Course (medicine), clinical course, but in some outbreaks, the mortality rate approaches 10%. Signs a ...
, dysentry,
gastroenteritis Gastroenteritis, also known as infectious diarrhea, is an inflammation of the Human gastrointestinal tract, gastrointestinal tract including the stomach and intestine. Symptoms may include diarrhea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. Fever, lack of ...
, malnutrition,
measles Measles (probably from Middle Dutch or Middle High German ''masel(e)'', meaning "blemish, blood blister") is a highly contagious, Vaccine-preventable diseases, vaccine-preventable infectious disease caused by Measles morbillivirus, measles v ...
,
pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...
,
tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...
, and
whooping cough Whooping cough ( or ), also known as pertussis or the 100-day cough, is a highly contagious, Vaccine-preventable diseases, vaccine-preventable Pathogenic bacteria, bacterial disease. Initial symptoms are usually similar to those of the common c ...
. On 19 June 2020, Bartholomew told Te Ao Maori News that a publisher had said his book ''No Māori Allowed'' was too pro-Maori. Bartholomew maintained that the stories of segregation needed to be told and New Zealand must '"acknowledge its racist past." In 2022, Bartholomew's book was adapted into a
TVNZ Television New Zealand (, "Te Reo Tātaki" meaning "The Leading Voice"), more commonly referred to as TVNZ, is a New Zealand state-owned media company and Crown entity. The company operates a television network, streaming service, and news se ...
documentary called '' No Māori Allowed'' by Megan Jones, Reikura Kahi and Corinna Hunzike. Bartholomew's research on Pukekohe has been cited by Adele N. Norris, Gauri Nandedkar, Meg Parsons and Byron Williams.


Publications


Academic papers

Bartholomew's publications include: * ''Protean nature of mass sociogenic illness'' (2002) with
Simon Wessely Sir Simon Charles Wessely (born 23 December 1956) is a British psychiatrist. He is Regius Professor of Psychiatry at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London and head of its department of psychological medicine, vice dean for academi ...
, ''
British Journal of Psychiatry The ''British Journal of Psychiatry'' is a peer-reviewed medical journal covering all branches of psychiatry with a particular emphasis on the clinical aspects of each topic. The journal is owned by the Royal College of Psychiatrists and publish ...
'' * ''A social-psychological theory of collective anxiety attacks: the "Mad Gasser" reexamined'' (2004) with Jeffrey S. Victor, '' Sociological Quarterly'' * ''Epidemic Hysteria in Schools: an international and historical overview'' (2006) with Francois Sirois, ''Educational Studies'' * ''How Should Mental Health Professionals Respond to Outbreaks of Mass Psychogenic Illness?'' (2011) with M. Chandra Sekaran Muniratnam, '' Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy'' * ''Mass psychogenic illness and the social network: is it changing the pattern of outbreaks?'' (2012) with G. James Rubin and Simon Wessely,
Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine The ''Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine'' is a peer-reviewed medical journal. It is the flagship journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, located in London, with full editorial independence. Its continuous publication history dates back to ...
* ''Science for sale: the rise of predatory journals'' (2014), Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine


Books

Bartholomew is the author of several
popular science Popular science (also called pop-science or popsci) is an interpretation of science intended for a general audience. While science journalism focuses on recent scientific developments, popular science is more broad ranging. It may be written ...
and skeptical non-fiction books including: * ''UFOs & Alien Contact: Two Centuries of Mystery'' (1998) with George S. Howard * ''Exotic Deviance: Medicalizing Cultural Idioms'' (2000) * ''Little Green Men, Meowing Nuns and Head-Hunting Panics: A Study of Mass Psychogenic Illness and Social Delusion'' (2001) * ''Hoaxes, Myths, and Manias: Why We Need Critical Thinking'' (2003) with
Benjamin Radford Benjamin Radford (born October 2, 1970) is an American writer, investigator, and skeptic. He has authored, coauthored or contributed to over twenty books and written over a thousand articles and columns on a wide variety of topics including urb ...
* ''Panic Attacks'' (2004) with Hilary Evans * ''Bigfoot Encounters in New York & New England: Documented Evidence Stranger Than Fiction '' (2008) with Paul B. Bartholomew * ''Outbreak! The Encyclopedia of Extraordinary Social Behavior'' (2009) with Hilary Evans * ''The Martians Have Landed!: A History of Media-Driven Panics and Hoaxes'' (2012) with Benjamin Radford * ''Australia's Forgotten Children: The Corrupt State of Education in the Northern Territory'' (2012) * ''The Untold Story of Champ: A Social History of America's Loch Ness Monster'' (2012) * ''Mass Hysteria in Schools: A Worldwide History Since 1566'' (2014) with Bob Rickard * ''A Colorful History of Popular Delusions'' (2015) with Peter Hassall * ''American Hauntings: The True Stories behind Hollywood's Scariest Movies―from The Exorcist to The Conjuring'' (2015) with
Joe Nickell Joe Herman Nickell (December 1, 1944 – March 4, 2025) was an American skeptic and investigator of the paranormal. Nickell was a senior research fellow for the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and wrote regularly for their journal, '' Skeptic ...
* ''American Intolerance: Our Dark History of Demonizing Immigrants'' (2019) with Anja E. Reumschüssel * ''Havana Syndrome: Mass Psychogenic Illness and the Real Story Behind the Embassy Mystery and Hysteria'' (2020) with Robert W. Baloh * ''No Māori Allowed: New Zealand's forgotten history of racial segregation'' (2020).


Reception

William Gibson William Ford Gibson (born March 17, 1948) is an American-Canadian speculative fiction writer and essayist widely credited with pioneering the science fiction subgenre known as cyberpunk. Beginning his writing career in the late 1970s, his ear ...
in '' Mother Jones'' described ''Outbreak! The Encyclopedia of Extraordinary Social Behavior'' as "Essential reading for the era of Trump" while Véronique Campion-Vincent described it as "exceptional in its scope...an indispensable working tool for researchers".
Michael Bywater Michael Bywater (born May 11, 1953) is an English non-fiction writer, columnist, critic, and essayist. He has been a columnist for newspapers and periodicals, like ''The Times'', ''The Independent,'' and ''Observer''. He has written several books, ...
in ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
'' described ''Panic Attacks'' as "a revealing historical corrective to the tempting view that media manipulation is a late-20th-century invention." An October 2021 article published by the Office for Science and Society of
McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...
, which was critical of the official claims about Havana Syndrome, referred readers to ''Havana Syndrome: Mass Psychogenic Illness and the Real Story Behind the Embassy Mystery and Hysteria'' as a "fantastic book" saying it contextualize the syndrome in a history of acoustical scares,
PTSD Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental disorder that develops from experiencing a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, warfare and its associated traumas, natural disaster, traffic collision, ...
, and unwarranted accusations of state terrorism."


Recognition

In 2017, Bartholomew was elected a
Fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...
of the
Committee for Skeptical Inquiry The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI), formerly known as the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), is a program within the U.S. non-profit organization Center for Inquiry (CFI), which seeks to " ...
.


See also

*
Dancing mania Dancing mania (also known as dancing plague, choreomania, St. John's Dance, tarantism and St. Vitus' Dance) was a social phenomenon that may have had biological causes, which occurred primarily in mainland Europe between the 14th and 17th centu ...
* Hysterical contagion * Seattle windshield pitting epidemic


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bartholomew, Robert Living people 1958 births American sociologists American male non-fiction writers American male journalists James Cook University alumni Flinders University alumni Medical sociologists American skeptics American expatriates in New Zealand