Key Takeaways

• In a YouGov survey, 63% of surveyed Americans said true crime gives people a better understanding of the justice system, and 55% disagreed that the genre encourages people to commit more crimes (v 21% who agreed).
• True crime shows are distorting the public's perception of victims by disproportionately depicting white women, but are also raising awareness of cyber crimes.
• Because true crime documentaries are relatively cheaper to produce, and entertainment value is often prioritized, the real-life victims of the crime - as well as those viewers who relate to them - are often diminished.
• While copycat crimes have been linked to media and cultural coverage of real crimes, it is hard to draw a direct correlation between the number of crimes and shows.

Introduction

Impact of True Crime on Crime Rates

• While crime rates have decreased in the US - with violent crimes going from 747 per 100,000 people in 1993 to 379 in 2019, perception of crime has increased. In 2000, 47% of US adults said crime was up compared to the previous year, while in 2020, 78% believed that. This means that it is unlikely that the increased popularity of true crime has caused an increase in crime rates, but that viewers may perceive things that way. See the graph below.
• Media coverage of crimes has been linked to copycat killings, according to a 2108 study. One analyst said the increased coverage was directing less empathy to victims and is focused more on understanding the psychology of the criminals. Further, the growth of the true crime genre is leading to increased societal tolerance of violence, and violent stories.
• However, copycat crimes have not been coherently measured. As the second graph below shows, it can be hard to draw a direct comparison between true crime films released, and the amount of copycatting. On the other hand, social media murders have drawn attention to crimes committed by people seeking the spotlight that news media and true crime shows may provide.
• In terms of if people in the US believe true crime shows are impacting crime rates, there were no direct figures, but a YouGov survey last month did look at what they believe the genre's impact is. Some 37% of respondents said it exploited victims and 25% said it was biased and inaccurate. Then 44% said the genre desensitizes people to violence, 37% believe it increases trust in police, and 31% think it causes more distrust.
• However, the balance of the survey was that people felt the genre has a more positive than negative impact on society, so they likely would have argued it decreases crime. This included 63% saying it gives people a better understanding of the justice system, and 55% disagreeing that the genre encourages people to commit more crimes (v 21% who agreed).

 

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Exploiting or Downplaying the Victims

• Because true crime documentaries are relatively cheaper to produce (there’s less use of sets, costumes, actors, or special effects) and entertainment value is often prioritized, the real-life victims of the crime — as well as those viewers who relate to them - may be diminished or the impact on them distorted. True crime also focuses on the most gruesome or entertaining crime, and in that sense can stoke the fears that women (the main viewers) wish to alleviate by watching the content.
• Survivors and family members are the ones who were most impacted by the original event, but prioritizing dramatic flair can see their experience exploited while the perpetrators are lionized.
• The simplified or exploitative portrayal of victims can feed into existing gender, class, or racial inequalities in society. For example, The Staircase was criticized for painting murderer Michael Peterson as the victim, rather than the wife whom he was convicted of murdering. In the US, most intimate partner violence is conducted by men, with an average of at least three murders of women by their intimate partner daily.
• True crime documentaries are often made without the consent or input of the people most affected by the crime, which can lead to works that treat victims like a statistic, and/or re-open old wounds. One victim said the documentary took her control away, just as the original crime did. True crime can also alter the grieving process, stopping the family and close friends of the victim from grieving quietly.
• One victim whose experience was covered in a recent Netflix documentary stated, "Real people living real lives keep getting re-traumatized every time." Similarly, before the airing of Making a Murderer, the victim's family stated they were “saddened to learn that individuals and corporations continue to create entertainment and to seek profit from our loss.”
• Victims are also typically reduced to the crime committed against them, rather than being portrayed as full human beings. On the other hand, one criminologist argued that if done well, the true crime genre can give a voice to victims and provide both catharsis and insights into the investigations.

Desensitization, Distortion, or Increased Awareness

• True crime documentaries have a strong impact on how viewers perceive crime in general in the US. Because most of the victims portrayed are white women and other minority victims are under-represented (in proportion to annual data), viewers get a distorted understanding of reality, and there is a lack of empathy for the most likely victims (Black women are 2.5 times more likely to be murdered by men than white women). Likewise, true crime tends to focus on serial killers and on murder by strangers, while in reality. in the US, serial murders make up less than 1% of murders, and most violence is committed by someone the victim knows. In various podcasts, around 19% of the content featured serial killers.
• Similarly, white perpetrators tend to get more of a backstory in true crime, while Black criminals are depicted as one-dimensional and dangerous. That can have repercussions through bias in the justice system.
• On the other hand, true crime shows can raise awareness around less-understood topics, such as digital crime. A survey of US and UK residents released in August this year found that true-crime shows and movies are having a large impact on the public’s understanding of cybercrime. Two-thirds of respondents said the shows were changing the way they viewed fraud. Nearly 60% said they’re cautious about trusting people online, as a result of cultural depictions of fraud.
• True crime shows can also generate discussion (and thereby raise awareness) around issues like evidence gathering, or the sort of support available for victims' families.
• Many Americans' understanding of the justice system is formed via the entertainment industry. In one study, students who watched a lot of crime shows (fiction or non-fiction) were better at planning crimes.

 

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Research Strategy