A while ago there was an American series, Lie To Me (Lie to Me), in which a psychologist led a company that was hired by the FBI to investigate whether or not an alleged suspect was telling the truth.
Despite the fantasy of the program, there is actually a part of the criminology which is responsible for studying gestures, rictus, wrinkles, looks, to determine if someone is lying or not, if someone invents or remembers, in short, if someone can be guilty or innocent.
Well, there is a new discipline (the truth is, not so new) that studies the passage of emotions through the face, the imprint left by trauma or violence that has been experienced, and those who use it claim that it can even help avoid aggressive tendencies. You follow us?
Psychomorphology, is it possible to recognize a murderer and read the evil in the face?
By many considered pseudosciencethis branch of psychology analyzes facial features as a whole and the way in which, as we mentioned, emotions, thoughts and experiences are carved into our face.
The look, the expression of the smile, even the size of our nose say more about us than any words.
According to the authors of the book The faces of evil (Esther Mellado and Deogracia Mellado Piedra),
“facial psychomorphology helps to know the individual to the millimeter and to know in advance their possible reactions and behaviors.”
Although, they emphatically clarify, No is to say if someone is good or bad. In this interesting book they try to read the evil in the faces of numerous criminals, among whom can be counted parricides, pedophiles, terrorists, dictators and assassinations, and analyze them, to find out what could have led them to be the way they were.
Because here would be the crux of the matter: if experiences are marked on our face, they necessarily modify it, to the point that what we have become would be reflected in it, even what we want to hide.
What psychomorphology can do
Beyond its detractors, it is undoubtedly an exciting discipline. The features are studied as a whole, not separately, and obviously it is not possible to know, after analyzing a face, whether that person is going to kill or commit another crime, but we can deduce psychologically what he or she is like, and in the meantime, prevent certain trends.
A clear example is illustrated with the analysis of the “Beauty Beast” Irma Grese, famous Nazi criminal, and they say about her:
“We can see photographs from before his perverse stage in which his gaze is angelic. If we look at the subsequent images we will see how her expression has totally changed. It can be deduced that something dramatic and violent occurred in her life and that is why she acted the way she did.”
Naturally, not all people to whom bad things happen in life become murderers; certain pathologies or psychopathies that allow these tendencies must also be considered.
However, this contribution from psychology is still enriching, as it not only serves to “reveal” rapists or murderers, but also as a tool for the human resources departments of some companies, interested in the potential of individuals.
What do you think about this? Do you think it is possible to read evil in another person’s face, as in the case of Charles Manson?