Born with a killer instinct?
THE subject of the rehabilitation of criminals has been in the news again recently; a complex issue that can divide opinion.
This fascinating documentary series is ultimately aiming to look at the topic from a completely different angle.
Could it be possible to identify those people who will become violent criminal offenders and even murderers, before they have committed a serious offence? And could effective treatment and intervention – whether medical, psychological, or behavioural – prevent their violent futures from happening?
That’s certainly what neuro-criminologist Professor Adrian Raine thinks, after decades spent working with murderers to identify the hidden risk factors which he believes led them to kill.
Together with forensic psychologist Dr Vicky Thakordas-Desai, he has been conducting ground-breaking biological and psychological investigations on three convicted murderers, to determine whether they truly had control over their actions.
Tonight’s final episode features Anthony Glassford Powell who in 1993, aged just 21, shot and killed a man in Brixton.
Released from prison seven years ago, after serving 20 years, Anthony has agreed to take part to learn more about himself and get answers about his behaviour. As he himself admits, he came from a good family, with loving parents who worked hard, and wants to understand what went so badly wrong.
Anthony undergoes a series of brain scans, hormone tests, behavioural experiments and psychological interviews, as well as traumatic visits to his childhood home, to learn how various different factors might have combined on that night to make him a murderer.