Imprisoned by Dutroux: An ethnography of guilty houses in Belgium

This article focuses on the guilty houses of the Belgian kidnapper, child rapist and child murderer, Marc Dutroux. Our aim is to explore which role the houses of Dutroux fulfil in the collective memory of this traumatic, highly mediated affair. In total, sixteen in-depth interviews have been carried out with spokespeople of the local governments, neighbouring residents and local entrepreneurs in the tourist industry. Additionally, two discussion forums have been analysed. Results show that the houses of Dutroux fulfil a problematic role within the collective memory of the Dutroux affair. On the one hand, there is the need to retain the memory of this painful affair, often accompanied by placing tangible objects at the locations by the municipalities. On the other hand, a need to forget can be identified. We conclude that feelings of guilt and shame related to the Dutroux case seem to spill over to its spatial surroundings with his guilty houses playing the leading role.