Can we change violent minds?
The Reith Lectures
BBC
4.2 • 770 Ratings
🗓️ 17 December 2024
⏱️ 58 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In her final lecture, the forensic psychiatrist Dr Gwen Adshead, assesses how we deal with violent offenders and asks is it time for a re-think?
The UK has more than 70 people on whole life tariffs, at incredible expense – all to appease a sense of revenge, she says.
Dr Adshead assesses the effectiveness and impact of therapeutic interventions with offenders in prisons. And she asks if the public needs to change their minds about violent perpetrators.
The programme is recorded in Bergen, Norway – a country which has a long tradition of rehabilitating violent offenders.
The Reith Lectures are presented and chaired by Anita Anand.
Producer: Jim Frank Editor: Clare Fordham Sound Engineer: Neil Churchill Production Coordinator: Brenda Brown Additional Research by James Bonney and Debbie Richford
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi, it's Nicola Cocklin. |
| 0:02.8 | Young people have been making history for years, but we don't often hear about them. |
| 0:06.6 | My brand new series on BBC Sounds sets out to put this right. |
| 0:10.6 | In history's youngest heroes, I'll be revealing the fascinating stories of 12 young people |
| 0:16.0 | who've played a major role in history and who've helped shape our world. |
| 0:19.8 | Like Audrey Hepburn, Nelson Mandela, |
| 0:22.5 | Louis Braille and Lady Jane Grey, history's youngest heroes with me, Nicola Cochlin. Listen on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:31.7 | BBC Sounds, music, radio podcasts. Hello, I'm Dr Gwen Ad'shead, and in my BBC Radio 4 Reith lectures, I'll be considering |
| 0:41.8 | the four questions about violence that I've most been asked about in my 30-year career as a |
| 0:47.2 | forensic psychiatrist. |
| 0:48.7 | In this fourth lecture, I'm asking, can we change violent minds? |
| 0:54.5 | Hello and welcome. |
| 0:56.3 | This is the fourth and final wreath lecture by the forensic psychiatrist Dr. Gwen Adzhead |
| 1:01.7 | and her series about violence. |
| 1:04.7 | We've come to Bergen, lying on the west coast of Norway. |
| 1:08.2 | And let me tell you, it is a really very beautiful place, surrounded by water |
| 1:12.3 | and blue-green peaks. In fact, locals call this the city between the seven mountains. |
| 1:18.6 | Bergen is a major port. It's famous for its fishing. It is notoriously wet, although I haven't |
| 1:24.7 | seen any sign of it. It's been absolutely gorgeous for us. We're here at |
| 1:28.9 | the Literature Husset, or Literature House. It's a place where people can come together and talk |
| 1:34.7 | and exchange ideas about books and writers. Now, compared to many countries, Norway has had a long |
| 1:41.9 | and distinctive approach to crime and punishment, |
... |
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