Dr. Gwen Adshead, a forensic psychiatrist with nearly 40 years at renowned institutions like Broadmoor, investigates the complex nature of violence. She ponder whether violence is a natural human trait and explores the deep-rooted links between trauma and aggressive behavior. The discussion delves into the psychological factors that drive individuals to violence and examines the role of restorative justice in healing both victims and offenders. Insights from her therapeutic experiences provide a compassionate perspective on this often misunderstood issue.
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Unexpected Revival
Gwen Adshead recalls a patient in Broadmoor who described disposing of a body.
The patient's victim unexpectedly regained consciousness.
insights INSIGHT
Natural vs. Normal
Human violence is a recurring theme in media, raising questions about its normalcy.
While violence exists in primates, human violence has distinct characteristics and motivations.
insights INSIGHT
Fascination with Violence
Humans are fascinated by narratives of murder and cruelty, suggesting an awareness of our capacity for it.
The enduring popularity of true crime and crime fiction highlights this.
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In this book, Dr. Gwen Adshead, an internationally renowned forensic psychiatrist and psychotherapist, draws from her thirty years of experience in providing therapy to people in prisons and secure hospitals who have committed serious offenses. Through a collaboration with coauthor Eileen Horne, Dr. Adshead brings her extraordinary career to life in a series of unflinching portraits. The book reveals the complexity and shared humanity of perpetrators, showing how minds can change when individuals take responsibility for their life stories and get to know their own minds. It offers a persuasive argument for compassion over condemnation in an era of mass incarceration, deep cuts in mental health care, and extreme social schisms.
In her 2024 Reith Lectures, Dr Gwen Adshead, addresses four questions that she has most commonly faced in her work as a therapist with violent perpetrators in secure psychiatric units and prisons:
Is Violence normal?
What is the relationship between trauma and violence?
Is there such a thing as Evil?
Can we change violent minds?
In this first lecture, using data and real-life stories from nearly 40 years’ experience as a forensic Psychiatrist working inside institutions such as Broadmoor, she asks if violence is normal.
Is violence unnatural? Or is it normal because, deep down, we are all capable of cruelty and can experience, even briefly, the urge to hurt others? What then are the tipping points, what are the factors that drive some to kill?
The programme was recorded at Broadcasting House in London in front of an audience and is presented and chaired by Anita Anand.