This week, Our interviewee is the Valencian criminologist and writer Vicente Garrido. Garrido has a PhD in Psychology and a Graduate in Criminology., as well as one of the pioneers and the most recognized authorities in the field of violent criminology. He has been a consultant to the United Nations, and has advised the Police and the Administration of Justice in different cases, developing the profile that helped capture the multiple murderer Joaquín Ferrándiz. His published books include: The murderer's trail, Face to face with the Psychopath, The tyrant children y Criminal profiles. GINÉS J. VERA
just published Multiple murderers and other social predators (Planet), Also this year he published, with Nieves Abarca, Tosca's kiss (Planet). In the book he already tells us that “Fiction is more effective than nonfiction when it comes to changing attitudes”. Having made the leap to the novel, What is the reason for this return to the informative book?, to the test?
The essay fulfills a different function than the novel. While fiction seeks to generate emotions and, from them, make the reader think, The essay seeks to explain, illuminate ideas, promote discussion within society, but also in the field of criminal policy. I move between these two areas, in 'The Kiss of Tosca' there is violence, but it is at the service of suspense… We could say that in 'Asesinos Múltiples' I explain why the characters in 'The Kiss of Tosca' act the way they do..
The society, according to your experience, Do you tend to be increasingly emotionally violent??
This is a controversial topic. Steven Pinker has proven that, in terms of serious violence (homicides, Genocide, wars, etc.) humanity has never been better; that is to say, that fewer and fewer people are killed. However, another thing is the perception of violence. The digital society has brought the presence of violence to every home every minute; never until now, paradoxically, we have that feeling that violence is everywhere… because its representation is global and permanent. Besides, Digital technology allows amoral or simply unscrupulous ignorant subjects to have a loudspeaker with which to send their messages of hate or hostility.… That low intensity violence, but very harmful to coexistence because it generates an environment of confrontation where the essential values of coexistence are attacked. (respect for others), that attacks the dignity of people, has never existed so intensely as until now.
A category of multiple murder that is not very common nor the one that causes the most anxiety among the public, We read, It is that of the individual who murders – motivated – several people for money., as in the example with which the book opens. Apparently, which does dismay our society and generates more “social fear” es, For example, the killing of students in high schools (like Columbine) or in universities (like Virginia's, both in USA). What is this due to??
All mass violence, without a clear or predictable cause, generates great fear, because there is nothing more scary than not knowing when one can be fatally attacked. School shootings, besides, for taking place in places where children should be particularly protected, have more devastating effects, because it undermines the very basis of the social institution: places of learning become places of death.
In the section dedicated to the conclusion of his book we read a section about the fascination of evil and its mechanism. A fascination that sometimes seems to induce imitation. Which leads us to think about multiple copycat murderers., murderers who want to identify with other previous murderers and who seem to have a neurological justification in a recent discovery: mirror neurons. Can you tell us briefly??
Mirror neurons highlight that people activate the same brain functions when we perform an event as when we see someone else perform it.. This underlines the power of fiction: The stories we see or imagine activate emotions felt by the protagonists of such fiction.. Therefore, certain vulnerable subjects may wish to imitate criminals., if they feel emotions of power and control just as these do. But let's not forget that kind and altruistic actions can have the same effect, fortunately!
