How would you react to prison museum's 'dark tourism'?

Researchers exploring so-called "dark tourism" are analysing the reactions of visitors to the most gruesome parts of Peterhead Prison Museum.

The prison closed its doors more than 10 years ago and then later reopened as a museum.

It remains largely unchanged, giving visitors a taste of what life was like, including some of the darker sides - such as brutal attacks by prisoners on each other, a punishment station where officers used a whip, a violent riot by inmates, and dirty protests.

Reactions of people are being filmed, and it is hoped the conclusions about how they responded could help the curators of museums in the future.

The data is being gathered and analysed by researchers at Aberdeen's Robert Gordon University (RGU).

It is hoped the study will provide a better understanding of how people react when faced with more troubling aspects of human history.

The project is called Talking about Prisons, with the RGU's Rachael Ironside the lead researcher.

"What we're looking at is how visitors interact with some of the museum spaces, in particular those spaces that deal with a more difficult type of heritage," she told BBC Scotland News.

"This particular project is looking at those in-the-moment interactions, that's what we're really interested in. Where do they look, what do they say":[]}