The story of the Violence Research Foundation is intertwined with the lives of its co-founders, Everett L. “Red” Hodges and his wife Mary Merle Hodges. Motivated by their concern and frustration with a troubled teenage son, they set out to determine the causes of aberrent and violent behavior. In 1985, with the establishment of the Violence Research Foundation, they began a mission fueled almost entirely by profits from their oil business that would take them across a wide spectrum of answers to their question. While the occurrence of violent behavior can be attributed to many causes, including genetic, social, and enviromental, their inquiry tended to gravitate toward the biological. Over the years sponsored research revealed a relationship between high exposure to certain metals, particularly manganese and lead, and the incidence of aberrent, violent behavior.

In 1989, California Gevernor George Deukmejian signed VRF-sponsored SB 107 into law. The bill, sponsored by Senator Robert Presley, a current VRF Officer and Director, funded a controlled study of 450 inmates within the California Youth Authority. With this early project, researchers contrasted the performance of half the inmates receiving daily vitamins, minerals and omega fatty acids, with the other half being given a placebo. The indicated result was a 38% reduction in rule violations, including acts of violence.

In 1994, the Foundation, in partnership with Citizens for Health, successfully petitioned the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency to continue its ban on the mangabese-laden gasoline additive MMT, against strong opposition from the oil industry. The work of Canadian neurotoxicologist, and member of our Professional Advisory Board, John Donaldson, Ph.D. of McGill University in Montreal was a vital force in the success of this case. Dr. Donaldson’s work focused on the role played by the exposure to excess manganese and the incidence of Parkinson’s dementia and other neurological disorders. He concluded that manganese works as a disinhibiting agent in the brain, allowing for more violent behavior in many individuals.

VRF sponsored research at the University of California’s Davis and Irvine campuses has reported that significant dopamine destruction occurs in annimals fed soy based infant formula. Our research indicates that soy formulas available on the shelf today typically contain 50 to 200 times the amount of manganese as occurs in a mother’s breast milk.