The Seat of Evil

The Seat of Evil

Do crimes originate in the brain? Stefan B. is a paedophiliac violent criminal. The judges certified the man, who actually wanted to become a priest, as suffering from a mental disorder. What goes on in his brain that is so different from that of normal people? There seem to be biological traces in the brains of violent criminals. With modern methods such as magnetic resonance imaging, scientists are on the trail of the roots of violence in the brain. Stefan B., who is locked in the security ward of a psychiatric clinic under a treatment order instead of in prison, is undergoing therapy. Nobody knows how long it will take and how long it will last after all, whether or when he will be released. But perhaps the latest results of the researchers can help to check the success of therapies in the brain. Modern brain research poses disturbing questions: if acts of violence can be explained by brain anomalies, could the perpetrators have really acted any differently? Is Stefan B. perhaps even not guilty?
Not only violent criminals - we are all controlled by our brain, far more than we really wish to believe - says Gerhard Roth, one of Germany's most renowned brain researchers. According to him our freedom of will is merely an illusion, a trick of the brain, which makes the world bearable for us. Tough stuff for our outlook on life.