The neuroscience of restorative justice | Dan Reisel

Translator: Sara Rodríguez Fraga Reviewer: Serv. de Norm. Lingüística U. de Santiago de Compostela

I'd like to talk today

Hoxe gustaríame falar

about how we can change our brains

sobre como podemos cambiar os nosos cerebros

and our society.

e a nosa sociedade.

Meet Joe.

Preséntovos a Joe

Joe's 32 years old and a murderer.

Joe ten 32 anos e é un asasino.

I met Joe 13 years ago on the lifer wing

Coñecino hai 13 anos no pavillón de cadea perpetua

at Wormwood Scrubs high-security prison in London.

en Wormwood Scrubs, unha prisión de alta seguridade,

en Londres.

I'd like you to imagine this place.

Gustaríame que imaxinarades aquel sitio.

It looks and feels like it sounds:

Era tal é como indica o seu nome

Wormwood Scrubs (matogueiras de absintio).

Wormwood Scrubs.

Built at the end of the Victorian Era

Construído a finais da época vitoriana

by the inmates themselves,

polos propios presos,

it is where England's most dangerous prisoners are kept.

alí encérranse os criminais máis perigosos de Inglaterra.

These individuals have committed acts

Estas persoas cometeron crimes realmente atroces.

of unspeakable evil.

And I was there to study their brains.

E eu estaba alí para estudar as súas mentes.

I was part of a team of researchers

Eu formaba parte dun equipo de investigación

from University College London,

da University College London,

on a grant from the U.K. department of health.

era bolseiro do Ministerio de de Saúde do Reino Unido.

My task was to study a group of inmates

O meu traballo consistía en estudar un grupo de reclusos

who had been clinically diagnosed as psychopaths.

que foran diagnosticados como psicópatas.

That meant they were the most

O cal quere dicir que eran os máis desapiadados e agresivos

callous and the most aggressive

of the entire prison population.

de tódolos reclusos da prisión.

What lay at the root of their behavior?

Cal era a orixe dese comportamento?

Was there a neurological cause for their condition?

Tería unha causa neurolóxica a súa enfermidade?

And if there was a neurological cause,

E se a tiña,

could we find a cure?

poderiamos atoparlle a cura?

So I'd like to speak about change, and especially about emotional change.

Falemos agora do cambio, en concreto do cambio emocional.

Growing up, I was always intrigued

Desde novo sempre me intrigou

by how people change.

o xeito no que vai cambiando a xente.

My mother, a clinical psychotherapist,

A miña nai, psicóloga clínica, ás veces atendía

would occasionally see patients at home

in the evening.

aos pacientes na casa polas tardes.

She would shut the door to the living room,

Ela pechaba a porta do salón

and I imagined

e eu imaxinaba que alí ocorrían cousas máxicas.

magical things happened in that room.

At the age of five or six

Cando tiña cinco ou seis anos,

I would creep up in my pajamas

escapulíame en pixama

and sit outside with my ear glued to the door.

e sentábame fóra, coa orella pegada á porta.

On more than one occasion, I fell asleep

Máis dunha vez, adormecín

and they had to push me out of the way

e tivéronme que apartar dun empurrón

at the end of the session.

ao final da sesión.

And I suppose that's how I found myself

Supoño que foi así como acabei

walking into the secure interview room

entrando na sala de entrevistas

on my first day at Wormwood Scrubs.

no meu primeiro día en Wormwood Scrubs.

Joe sat across a steel table

Joe sentouse ao outro lado dunha mesa de aceiro

and greeted me with this blank expression.

e saudoume sen expresión.

The prison warden, looking equally indifferent,

O garda da prisión, coa mesma expresión indiferente, dixo:

said, "Any trouble, just press the red buzzer,

"Se hai algún problema, prema no timbre vermello

and we'll be around as soon as we can."

e viremos o antes posible"

(Laughter)

(Risas)

I sat down.

Senteime.

The heavy metal door slammed shut behind me.

A pesada porta de metal pechouse ás miñas costas.

I looked up at the red buzzer

Mirei para o timbre vermello que estaba detrás de Joe,

far behind Joe on the opposite wall.

na parede de en fronte.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

I looked at Joe.

Mirei a Joe.

Perhaps detecting my concern,

Poida que notando a miña preocupación,

he leaned forward, and said,

inclinouse cara adiante e díxome,

as reassuringly as he could,

do xeito máis tranquilizador que puido:

"Ah, don't worry about the buzzer,

"Ah! non te preocupes polo timbre.

it doesn't work anyway."

Total, non funciona".

(Laughter)

(Risas)

Over the subsequent months,

Durante os seguintes meses,

we tested Joe and his fellow inmates,

examinamos a Joe e aos seus compañeiros,

looking specifically at their ability

centrándonos na capacidade

to categorize different images of emotion.

para clasificar diferentes imaxes emocionais.

And we looked at their physical response

E observamos as súas respostas físicas

to those emotions.

a esas emocións.

So, for example, when most of us look

Por exemplo,

at a picture like this of somebody looking sad,

cando miramos a foto de alguén triste,

we instantly have a slight,

de forma inmediata,

temos unha lixeira e perceptible resposta física medible:

measurable physical response:

increased heart rate, sweating of the skin.

aumento da frecuencia cardíaca, suor da pel...

Whilst the psychopaths in our study were able

Aínda que os psicópatas do estudo

to describe the pictures accurately,

podían describir as imaxes con exactitude,

they failed to show the emotions required.

non amosaban as emocións correspondentes.

They failed to show a physical response.

Non amosaban unha resposta física.

It was as though they knew the words

Era como se coñecesen a letra,

but not the music of empathy.

pero non a música, da empatía.

So we wanted to look closer at this

Queríamos analizar mellor isto

to use MRI to image their brains.

e facer resonancias magnéticas dos seus cerebros.

That turned out to be not such an easy task.

Non resultou ser unha tarefa fácil.

Imagine transporting a collection

Imaxinade transportar a un grupo

of clinical psychopaths across central London

de psicópatas polo centro de Londres,

in shackles and handcuffs

con grillóns e esposas

in rush hour,

en hora punta.

and in order to place each of them in an MRI scanner,

E para facerlles a resonancia

había que quitarlles todos os obxectos metálicos,

you have to remove all metal objects,

including shackles and handcuffs,

incluíndo as esposas e os grillóns,

and, as I learned, all body piercings.

e como aprendín, tódolos piercings do corpo.

After some time, however, we had a tentative answer.

No entanto, tempo despois, obtivemos unha resposta provisional.

These individuals were not just the victims

Esas persoas non só eran vítimas

of a troubled childhood.

dunha infancia problemática.

There was something else.

Había algo máis.

People like Joe have a deficit in a brain area

A xente como Joe ten unha deficiencia

called the amygdala.

nunha área do cerebro chamada amígdala.

The amygdala is an almond-shaped organ

A amígdala é un órgano con forma de améndoa

deep within each of the hemispheres of the brain.

que está nas profundidades de cada hemisferio do cerebro.

It is thought to be key to the experience of empathy.

Crese que é crucial para a empatía.

Normally, the more empathic a person is,

Canto máis empática é unha persoa,

the larger and more active their amygdala is.

maior e máis activa é a súa amígdala.

Our population of inmates

Os nosos internos

had a deficient amygdala,

tiñan unha amígdala deficiente, o cal

which likely led to their lack of empathy

probablemente causaba a falta de empatía

and to their immoral behavior.

e comportamentos inmorais.

So let's take a step back.

Volvamos sobre o pasado un momento.

Normally, acquiring moral behavior

Normalmente, adquirimos comportamentos morais

is simply part of growing up,

segundo imos madurando,

like learning to speak.

igual que aprendemos a falar.

At the age of six months, virtually every one of us

Aos seis meses,

case todos nós

is able to differentiate between animate and inanimate objects.

podemos diferenciar entre obxectos animados e inanimados.

At the age of 12 months,

Aos 12 meses,

a maioría dos nenos poden imitar

most children are able to imitate

the purposeful actions of others.

accións voluntarias doutros.

So for example, your mother raises her hands

Por exemplo, a túa nai levanta as mans

to stretch, and you imitate her behavior.

para estricarse e ti imítala.

At first, this isn't perfect.

Ao principio, non sae perfecto.

I remember my cousin Sasha,

Lémbrome da miña prima Sasha,

two years old at the time,

cando tiña dous anos,

folleando un libro de contos,

looking through a picture book

and licking one finger and flicking the page with the other hand,

chupándose un dedo e pasando as páxinas coa outra man.

licking one finger and flicking the page with the other hand.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

Bit by bit, we build the foundations of the social brain

Pouco a pouco, construímos as bases do cerebro social

so that by the time we're three, four years old,

de modo que para os tres ou catro anos,

most children, not all,

case todos os nenos, non todos,

have acquired the ability to understand

adquiriron a capacidade de entender

the intentions of others,

as intencións doutros,

another prerequisite for empathy.

outro requisito para a empatía.

The fact that this developmental progression

O feito de que esta progresión do desenvolvemento

is universal,

sexa universal,

irrespective of where you live in the world

independentemente de onde vivamos

or which culture you inhabit,

ou de cal sexa a nosa cultura,

strongly suggests that the foundations

é un forte indicador de que as bases

of moral behavior are inborn.

do comportamento moral son innatas.

If you doubt this,

Se o dubidan,

try, as I've done, to renege on a promise you've made

intenten, coma min, romper unha promesa

to a four-year-old.

que lle fixeran a un neno de catro anos.

You will find that the mind of a four-year old

Verán que a mente dun neno de catro anos

is not naïve in the slightest.

non é inxenua en absoluto.

It is more akin to a Swiss army knife

Seméllase máis a unha navalla suíza

with fixed mental modules

con módulos mentais fixos,

finely honed during development

pulidos finamente durante o crecemento,

and a sharp sense of fairness.

e cun agudo sentido da xustiza.

The early years are crucial.

Os primeiros anos son cruciais.

There seems to be a window of opportunity,

Parece que hai un momento concreto,

after which mastering moral questions

despois do cal, dominar as cuestións morais

becomes more difficult,

resulta máis difícil,

like adults learning a foreign language.

como cando os adultos aprenden un idioma.

That's not to say it's impossible.

Pero non quere dicir que sexa imposible.

A recent, wonderful study from Stanford University

Hai pouco, un marabilloso estudo da Universidade de Stanford

showed that people who have played

demostrou que a xente que xogou

a virtual reality game in which they took on

a un xogo de realidade virtual

the role of a good and helpful superhero

no que asumías o rol de superheroe bo e servizal,

actually became more caring and helpful

vólvese máis cariñosa e servizal

towards others afterwards.

cos demais no futuro.

Now I'm not suggesting

Non estou suxerindo que

we endow criminals with superpowers,

lles deamos superpoderes aos criminais,

but I am suggesting that we need to find ways

senón que necesitamos atopar formas

to get Joe and people like him

para que Joe e xente coma el

to change their brains and their behavior,

cambien as súas mentes e os seus comportamentos,

for their benefit

polo seu ben

and for the benefit of the rest of us.

e polo dos demais.

So can brains change?

Pode cambiar o cerebro?

For over 100 years,

Durante máis de 100 anos,

neuroanatomists and later neuroscientists

os neuroanatomistas e os neurocientíficos

held the view that after initial development in childhood,

argumentaban que despois do desenvolvemento inicial da infancia,

no new brain cells could grow

non podían producirse novas neuronas

in the adult human brain.

no cerebro dun adulto.

The brain could only change

O cerebro só podía cambiar

within certain set limits.

dentro duns límites establecidos.

That was the dogma.

Ese era o dogma.

But then, in the 1990s,

Pero nos anos 90,

studies starting showing,

algúns estudos comezaron a demostrar,

following the lead of Elizabeth Gould at Princeton and others,

seguindo o camiño de Elizabeth Gould en Princeton

studies started showing the evidence of neurogenesis,

e doutros,

que había probas de neuroxénese,

the birth of new brain cells

do nacemento de novas neuronas,

in the adult mammalian brain,

no cerebro dun mamífero adulto;

first in the olfactory bulb,

primeiro no bulbo olfactivo,

which is responsible for our sense of smell,

responsable do sentido do olfacto,

then in the hippocampus

despois no hipocampo,

involving short-term memory,

que actúa na memoria a curto prazo,

and finally in the amygdala itself.

e finalmente na propia amígdala.

In order to understand

Para entender como funciona este proceso,

how this process works,

I left the psychopaths and joined a lab in Oxford

deixei aos psicópatas e ingresei nun laboratorio de Oxford

specializing in learning and development.

para especializarme na aprendizaxe e desenvolvemento.

Instead of psychopaths, I studied mice,

No lugar de psicópatas, estudaba ratos,

because the same pattern of brain responses

porque o mesmo patrón de resposta cerebral aparece

appears across many different species of social animals.

en moitas especies de animais sociais.

So if you rear a mouse in a standard cage,

Se crías unha rata nunha gaiola estándar,

a shoebox, essentially, with cotton wool,

nunha caixa de zapatos, con algodón,

alone and without much stimulation,

soa e sen moitos estímulos,

not only does it not thrive,

non só non se desenvolve ben,

but it will often develop strange,

senón que a miúdo xorden comportamentos raros e repetitivos.

repetitive behaviors.

This naturally sociable animal

Este animal sociable por natureza

will lose its ability to bond with other mice,

perderá a súa capacidade de relacionarse

even becoming aggressive when introduced to them.

con outros ratos,

e ata chegará a poñerse agresivo cando é posto con eles.

Pero os ratos criados no que chamamos

However, mice reared in what we called

un ambiente enriquecido,

an enriched environment,

a large habitation with other mice

un habitáculo grande con outros ratos,

with wheels and ladders and areas to explore,

con rodas, escaleiras e outras zonas para explorar,

presentan neuroxénese,

demonstrate neurogenesis,

the birth of new brain cells,

o nacemento de novas neuronas,

e, como demostramos,

and as we showed, they also perform better

levan a cabo mellor

on a range of learning and memory tasks.

unha serie de tarefas de aprendizaxe e memoria.

Now, they don't develop morality to the point of

Pero non desenvolven a moralidade ata o punto

carrying the shopping bags of little old mice

de levarlle as bolsa pola rúa

across the street,

aos ratiños anciáns,

but their improved environment results in healthy,

pero as mellores condicións ambientais

sociable behavior.

xeran un comportamento social saudable.

Mice reared in a standard cage, by contrast,

Pola contra, os ratos criados en gaiolas estándar,

not dissimilar, you might say, from a prison cell,

non moi distintas, poderíase dicir, á cela dunha prisión,

have dramatically lower levels of new neurons

teñen niveis significativamente máis baixos

in the brain.

de neuronas novas.

It is now clear that the amygdala of mammals,

Queda claro que a amígdala dos mamíferos,

including primates like us,

incluíndo aos primates coma nós,

can show neurogenesis.

pode presentar neuroxénese.

In some areas of the brain,

Nalgunhas parte do cerebro,

more than 20 percent of cells are newly formed.

máis do 20% das células son novas.

We're just beginning to understand

Estamos comezando a entender

what exact function these cells have,

a función exacta desas células,

but what it implies is that the brain is capable

pero o que quere dicir é que o cerebro

of extraordinary change way into adulthood.

é capaz de cambios extraordinarios ben avanzada a vida adulta.

However, our brains are also

Así a todo,

o noso cerebro tamén é sumamente sensible

exquisitely sensitive to stress in our environment.

ao estrés que nos arrodea.

Stress hormones, glucocorticoids,

As hormonas do estrés,

glicocorticoides,

released by the brain,

liberadas polo cerebro,

suppress the growth of these new cells.

suprimen o crecemento destas células novas.

The more stress, the less brain development,

Canto máis estrés, menos desenvolvemento cerebral,

which in turn causes less adaptability

o que xera, á súa vez, menos adaptabilidade

and causes higher stress levels.

e aumenta os niveis de estrés.

This is the interplay between nature and nurture

Esta é a interacción entre natureza e crianza

in real time in front of our eyes.

en tempo real, diante dos nosos ollos.

Cando pensas niso,

When you think about it,

it is ironic that our current solution

resulta irónico que a solución actual

for people with stressed amygdalae

para a xente con amígdalas estresadas

is to place them in an environment

sexa poñelas nun ambiente

that actually inhibits any chance of further growth.

que en realidade inhibe toda posibilidade de crecemento posterior.

Of course, imprisonment is a necessary part

Por suposto, o encarceramento é unha parte necesaria

of the criminal justice system

do sistema de xustiza penal

and of protecting society.

para protexer a sociedade.

Our research does not suggest

O noso estudo non suxire

that criminals should submit their MRI scans

que os criminais presenten

as súas resonancias como proba nun xuízo

as evidence in court

and get off the hook because they've got a faulty amygdala.

e que os liberen porque non lles funcione ben a amígdala.

As probas mostran que é ao revés.

The evidence is actually the other way.

Because our brains are capable of change,

Xa que o noso cerebro pode cambiar

necesitamos ser responsables dos nosos actos

we need to take responsibility for our actions,

and they need to take responsibility

e eles teñen que facerse responsables

for their rehabilitation.

de rehabilitarse.

One way such rehabilitation might work

Unha forma de que esa rehabilitación

is through restorative justice programs.

puidese chegar a funcionar

é a través de programas de xustiza restaurativa.

Here victims, if they choose to participate,

Aquí a vítima,

se decide participar,

and perpetrators meet face to face

e o criminal vense cara a cara

in safe, structured encounters,

en encontros seguros e estruturados,

and the perpetrator is encouraged

anímase ao criminal

to take responsibility for their actions,

a responsabilizarse dos seus actos,

and the victim plays an active role in the process.

e a vítima xoga un papel activo neste proceso.

In such a setting, the perpetrator can see,

E neste escenario, o criminal pode ver,

perhaps for the first time,

quizais por primeira vez,

the victim as a real person

á vítima coma unha persoa real,

with thoughts and feelings and a genuine

con pensamentos e sentimentos

emotional response.

e unha xenuína resposta emocional.

This stimulates the amygdala

Isto estimula a amígdala

and may be a more effective rehabilitative practice

e pode ser una práctica de rehabilitación máis efectiva

than simple incarceration.

que o simple encarceramento.

Such programs won't work for everyone,

Programas coma este non funcionan para todos,

but for many, it could be a way

pero para moitos, pode ser unha forma

to break the frozen sea within.

de rematar con esa enorme frialdade interior.

So what can we do now?

Entón, que podemos facer agora?

How can we apply this knowledge?

Como aplicamos este coñecemento?

I'd like to leave you with

Gustaríame deixarlles

tres leccións que aprendín.

three lessons that I learned.

The first thing that I learned was that

A primeira foi

que debemos cambiar a nosa mentalidade.

we need to change our mindset.

Since Wormwood Scrubs was built 130 years ago,

Desde que se construíu Wormwood Scrubs hai 130 anos,

society has advanced in virtually every aspect,

a sociedade avanzou en case tódolos aspectos,

in the way we run our schools, our hospitals.

na forma na que diriximos os nosos colexios e hospitais.

Aínda así, cando falamos de prisións

Yet the moment we speak about prisons,

é coma se volvésemos á época de Dickens

it's as though we're back in Dickensian times,

if not medieval times.

ou á Idade Media.

For too long, I believe,

Durante demasiado tempo, penso,

we've allowed ourselves to be persuaded

permitímonos crer na falsa idea

of the false notion that human nature cannot change,

de que a natureza humana non pode cambiar

and as a society, it's costing us dearly.

e, como sociedade, estámolo pagando moi caro.

We know that the brain is capable of extraordinary change,

Sabemos que o cerebro é capaz de cambios extraordinarios

e a mellor forma de conseguilo, incluso en adultos,

and the best way to achieve that,

even in adults, is to change and modulate

é cambiar e modular o noso ambiente.

our environment.

The second thing I have learned

O segundo que aprendín

é que necesitamos crear unha unión

is that we need to create an alliance

of people who believe that science is integral

entre a xente que cre que a ciencia é esencial

to bringing about social change.

para xerar o cambio social.

It's easy enough for a neuroscientist to place

É moi fácil para un neurocientífico

a high-security inmate in an MRI scanner.

facerlle unha resonancia a un preso de alta seguridade.

Well actually, that turns out not to be so easy,

Pois ben, resulta que non é tan fácil

but ultimately what we want to show

pero o que en verdade queremos ver

is whether we're able to reduce the reoffending rates.

e se podemos reducir as taxas de reincidencia.

In order to answer complex questions like that,

Para responder a preguntas tan complexas,

we need people of different backgrounds --

necesitamos xente con diferentes formacións:

lab-based scientists and clinicians,

clínicos e científicos de laboratorio,

social workers and policy makers,

políticos e traballadores sociais,

philanthropists and human rights activists —

filántropos e defensores dos dereitos humanos.

to work together.

Necesitamos que traballen unidos.

Finally, I believe we need

Finalmente creo que necesitamos

to change our own amygdalae,

cambiar as nosas propias amígdalas,

because this issue goes to the heart

porque esta cuestión chega ao fondo

not just of who Joe is,

non só de quen é Joe,

senón de quen somos nós.

but who we are.

We need to change our view of Joe

Necesitamos deixar de ver a Joe

como alguén totalmente incorrixible,

as someone wholly irredeemable,

because if we see Joe as wholly irredeemable,

porque, se nós o vemos así,

how is he going to see himself as any different?

como pode chegar el a verse como alguén distinto?

Dentro dunha década, Joe ha ser liberado

In another decade, Joe will be released

from Wormwood Scrubs.

de Wormwood Scrubs.

Estará entre o 70% de internos

Will he be among the 70 percent of inmates

who end up reoffending

que terminan reincidindo

and returning to the prison system?

e volven ao sistema penitenciario?

Non será mellor que, mentres cumpre a condena,

Wouldn't it be better if, while serving his sentence,

Joe was able to train his amygdala,

Joe adestre a súa amígdala,

which would stimulate the growth of new brain cells

o que estimularía o crecemento de novas células cerebrais e conexións,

and connections,

so that he will be able to face the world

para que, dese modo, poida enfrontarse ao mundo

once he gets released?

cando o liberen?

Sen dúbida, iso beneficiaríanos a todos.

Surely, that would be in the interest of all of us.

(Applause)

(Aplausos)

Thank you. (Applause)

Grazas. (Aplausos)