This is a past event
Research Seminar
Speaker: Robert Blakey
Abstract:
The capabilities of brain imaging technology are advancing, together with the novelty of its applications to increasingly complex behaviours, such as offending. This field experiment tested the effects of public engagement in neuroscience on attitudes towards young offenders. Brainstorm is a play about teenage brain development, televised for the BBC and shown at the National Theatre in London from 29th March to 2nd April 2016. Across six performances of the play, participants responded to four questions about the moral responsibility and dangerousness of a hypothetical offender either before or after watching the play. It was hypothesised that educating the public about the teenage brain would weaken the perceived appropriateness of retributive and utilitarian justifications for punishing young offenders. It is concluded that public engagement in the newest arrival to the criminological block – neuroscience – may shift support for different youth justice responses.
- Hosted by
- School of Law
- Venue
- The Old Senate Room