Is Violence Normal?

The Reith Lectures

BBC

Society & Culture, Science, Government, Technology

4.2 • 770 Ratings

🗓️ 26 November 2024

⏱️ 59 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

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.

Producer; Jim Frank Editor: Clare Fordham

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're about to listen to a BBC podcast, but this is about something else you might enjoy.
0:05.4	My name's Katie Lecky and I'm an assistant commissioner for on demand music on BBC Sounds.
0:10.8	The BBC has an incredible musical heritage and culture and as a music lover, I love being part of that.
0:17.5	With music on sounds, we offer collections and mixes for everything, from workouts to
0:22.4	helping you nod off, boogie in your kitchen, or even just a moment of calm. And they're all put
0:28.3	together by people who know their stuff. So if you want some expertly curated music in your life,
0:35.0	check out BBC Sounds.
0:41.2	BBC Sounds, music, radio podcasts.
0:47.7	Hello, I'm Dr. Gwen Adshed, and in my BBC Radio for Reith lectures, I'll be considering the four questions about violence that I've most been asked about in my 30-year career
0:52.7	as a forensic psychiatrist. In this first
0:55.7	lecture, I'm asking, is violence normal? Hello and welcome to the first of the 2024
1:03.1	Reef lectures from Broadcasting House in central London. This year's series revolves around the
1:09.5	issue of violence. Why are some people prone to violence, while others, the majority of us, it seems, are able to manage our strong emotions like anger and desire and envy, pain without lashing out, without hurting other people?
1:23.6	How effective is our criminal justice system at dealing with violent offenders? And what about the worst
1:29.4	acts of brutality? Is there such a thing as evil? And these are complex, controversial and highly
1:38.0	emotive questions. Some listeners may find aspects of what we discuss in this series of four lectures
1:43.6	upsetting, but we hope you
1:44.9	agree. Such is the devastation that violent offending causes these questions should be asked,
1:50.8	must be asked. They deserve to be examined. These are acts that unleash a lifetime of grief
1:56.8	and trauma for families who might have lost people they love or watched them changed forever.
2:03.3	Besides the emotional impacts, there are other considerations for society, a huge financial cost,
2:09.4	estimated to run at tens of billions, which is spent each year dealing with the aftermath of violent crime.
	...

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