Abstract
No account of the era of twin studies would be complete without a discussion of the Genain sisters, a set of identical quadruplets all of whom were diagnosed with schizophrenia in their 20s. Like the story of the Kallikak Family, the sad sordid story of the Genain sisters was intended to illustrate the primacy of heredity, but instead demonstrated the adroitness of psychiatrists and psychologists in ignoring the evidence that was, literally, right before their eyes: that schizophrenia and other mental illnesses have their roots in childhood trauma and abuse.
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Notes
- 1.
J. David Smith and Michael L. Wehmeyer, “Who Was Deborah Kallikak?” Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 50, no. 2 (April 2012): 169–178, https://doi.org/10.1352/1934-9556-50.2.169
- 2.
David Rosenthal et al., The Genain Quadruplets: A Case Study and Theoretical Analysis of Heredity and Environment in Schizophrenia (New York: Basic Books, 1963).
- 3.
Ibid., xiii–xiv.
- 4.
Ibid., 9.
- 5.
Ibid., 7.
- 6.
Ibid., 22–149.
- 7.
Ibid., 22–25.
- 8.
Ibid., 26–29.
- 9.
Ibid., 28–29.
- 10.
Ibid., 24.
- 11.
Ibid., 29–30.
- 12.
Ibid., 70.
- 13.
Ibid., 30.
- 14.
Ibid., 30–34.
- 15.
Ibid., 36.
- 16.
Ibid., 42–43.
- 17.
Ibid., 43–44.
- 18.
Ibid., 366.
- 19.
Ibid., 44–47.
- 20.
Ibid., 53.
- 21.
Ibid., 47.
- 22.
Ibid., 56.
- 23.
Ibid., 56.
- 24.
Ibid., 57–68.
- 25.
Ibid., 69.
- 26.
Ibid., 70–71.
- 27.
Ibid., 76.
- 28.
Ibid., 78–81.
- 29.
Ibid., 78–82.
- 30.
Ibid., 83–84.
- 31.
Ibid., 84.
- 32.
Ibid., 85.
- 33.
Ibid., 85–93.
- 34.
Ibid., 94.
- 35.
Ibid., 102
- 36.
Ibid., 51.
- 37.
Ibid., 368.
- 38.
Ibid., 104–105.
- 39.
Ibid., 105–108.
- 40.
Ibid., 108–116.
- 41.
Ibid., 111–115.
- 42.
Ibid., 116–117.
- 43.
Ibid., 118.
- 44.
Ibid., 118–119.
- 45.
Ibid., 120–121.
- 46.
Ibid., 121.
- 47.
Ibid., 121.
- 48.
Ibid., 123–125
- 49.
Ibid., 125–126.
- 50.
Ibid., 126.
- 51.
Ibid., 127–132.
- 52.
Ibid., 132.
- 53.
Ibid., 133.
- 54.
Ibid., 134.
- 55.
Ibid., 135–137.
- 56.
Ibid., 140–141.
- 57.
Ibid., 141–142.
- 58.
Ibid., 143–146.
- 59.
Ibid., 146.
- 60.
Ibid., 148–149.
- 61.
Ibid., 149.
- 62.
Ibid., 150–152.
- 63.
Ibid., 368.
- 64.
Ibid., 161–170.
- 65.
Ibid., 170–172.
- 66.
Ibid., 172–175.
- 67.
Lynn DeLisi, Allan F. Mirsky, Monte S. Buchsbaum, Daniel P. van Kammen, Karen F. Berman, Carol Caton, Marian S. Kafka, et al., “The Genain Quadruplets 25 Years Later: A Diagnostic and Biochemical Followup,” Psychiatry Research, 13, no. 1 (September 1984): 59–76, https://doi.org/10.1016/0165-1781(84)90119-7; Allan F. Mirsky, Lynn E. DeLisi, Monte S. Buchsbaum, Olive W. Quinn, Pamela Schwerdt, Larry J. Siever, Lee Mann, et al., “The Genain Quadruplets: Psychological Studies,” Psychiatry Research, 13, no. 1 (September 1984): 77–93.
- 68.
Allan F. Mirsky, Linas A. Bielauskas, Louis M. French, Daniel P. van Kammen, Erik Jönsson, and Göran Sedvall, “A 39-Year Followup of the Genain Quadruplets,” Schizophrenia Bulletin, 26, no. 3 (2000): 699–708.
- 69.
Anonymous, “David Rosenthal, 77, Genetics Researcher” New York Times, March 1, 1996, https://www.nytimes.com/1996/03/01/us/david-rosenthal-77-genetics-researcher.html
- 70.
Mirsky et al., “39-year followup,” 699–701.
- 71.
Ibid., 701.
- 72.
Out of respect for her privacy I have chosen not to reveal her true identity.
- 73.
David Rosenthal et al., Genain Quadruplets, 575.
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Hahn, P.D. (2019). The Story of the Genain Sisters. In: Madness and Genetic Determinism. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-21866-9_4
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