James W. Prescott (born January 21, 1934) is an American developmental psychologist,[1] whose research focused on the origins of violence, particularly as it relates to a lack of mother-child bonding.
Inspired by Harry Harlow's famous experiments on rhesus monkeys, which established a link between neurotic behavior and isolation from a care-giving mother, Prescott further proposed that a key component to development comes from the somesthetic processes (body touch) and vestibular-cerebellar processes (body movement) induced by mother-child interactions, and that deprivation of this stimulation causes brain abnormalities.
By analogy to the neurotic behavior in monkeys, he suggested that these developmental abnormalities are a major cause of adult violence amongst humans.
In 1978, Hustler Magazine published an article by Prescott with shocking photos of actual abused children.
Dr. Prescott supported this publication of his work in order to reach an audience outside of the scientific community.