Counterfactual reasoning, responsibility and blame for serial murders: the perception and prevention of violent crimes / Razonamiento contrafáctico, responsabilidad y culpa de los asesinatos en serie: la percepción y prevención de los crímenes violentos

• Autores: Susana Segura Vera
• Localización: International Journal of Social Psychology, Revista de Psicología Social, ISSN-e 1579-3680, ISSN 0213-4748, Vol. 29, Nº 2, 2014, págs. 265-295
• Idioma: inglés
• DOI: 10.1080/02134748.2014.918827
• Enlaces
  • Texto completo  1    2  
• Resumen
  • español

    La presente investigación evalúa la percepción de los asesinatos en serie, analizando los efectos de la controlabilidad en el razonamiento contrafáctico sobre el pasado y el futuro así como en las atribuciones de responsabilidad y culpa. Asimismo, analiza los efectos de la perspectiva (propia versus ajena) en estas atribuciones. Los participantes fueron 442 estudiantes que respondieron a unas preguntas abiertas diseñadas para este estudio. El primer experimento muestra que las personas se centran en factores controlables previos a estos sucesos. Cuando consideran la evitación y prevención de los asesinatos en serie en general, se centran en los representantes de las autoridades formales. Además, desde su propia perspectiva atribuyen la culpa al agresor y la responsabilidad a ambas partes; mientras que desde una perspectiva ajena atribuyen sentimientos de responsabilidad y culpa a estos representantes pero no al agresor. El segundo experimento muestra idénticos resultados respecto un caso específico muy conocido en Inglaterra y España. Estos hallazgos demuestran que esta percepción tiene implicaciones para la legislación y la prevención de los crímenes violentos.

  • English

    The present research evaluates people�s perception of serial murders, analysing the effects of controllability in counterfactual reasoning about the past and the future, as well as attributions of responsibility and blame. Besides, the research analyses the effects of perspective (one�s own versus other people�s) in these attributions. Participants were 442 students who answered open-ended questions designed for this study. The first experiment shows that people focus on controllable factors previous to these events. When considering the avoidance and prevention of general serial murders, they focus on representatives of formal authority. Moreover, when judging from their own perspective, blame is attributed to the perpetrator and responsibility to both parties; while from another person´s perspective, they attribute feelings of either responsibility or guilt to the representatives of formal authority and a lack of these feelings to the perpetrator. The second experiment shows identical results regarding the specific case of a well-known serial killer in England and Spain. These findings demonstrate that this perception has implications for the legal framework and the prevention of violent crimes.

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