Disclaimers:
This article discusses potentially sensitive topics, including murder, sexual assault, and domestic violence. Please use discretion while reading.
This article should not be used as a substitute for medical advice, counseling, or other health-related services or as a replacement for the services of a trained medical or mental health professional. The information in this article is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
I look over my mother’s shoulder on the train to find her intently reading an article about a murdered woman. My best friend turns on a crime podcast “to calm down.” Twitter and Instagram are full of thirsty jokes about Luigi Mangione. This can’t be good for the brain. Can it?
What Is True Crime?
“True crime” as an entertainment genre refers to “a nonfiction genre of literature, film, podcasts, etc. That depicts and examines real crime cases,” according to Merriam-Webster. These pieces of media describe current criminal cases and infamous historical cases in detail and sometimes aim to analyze and uncover details of the crime, all with the goal of educating the public about the specifics of a certain criminal case. Some popular examples of true crime media include the podcast My Favorite Murder, and the Netflix documentary series Conversations With A Killer.
The Ethics Of True Crime
It’s important to consider the ethics of this type of true crime media: the effects that it can have on the involved parties and the general population. The true crime genre can exploit the story of not just the victims but sometimes their families as well, in their most vulnerable moments. The process of investigations and news coverage can add additional stress to an already grieving family, and because of the skyrocketing popularity of true crime media, they can be forced to relive their traumas frequently in the name of amateur journalism.
Annie Nichol, sister of Polly Klaas, the 12-year-old girl from California whose 1993 abduction and murder sparked a national outcry, describes feeling exploited and disrespected by true crime content creators today. “Although none of the content creators who went on to dramatize my sister’s murder have ever asked me for consent, a few have reached out in recent years to ask me for my memories,” says Nichol. “In so doing, they often excitedly bombarded me with details about the case I didn’t want to know, causing an onslaught of post-traumatic stress. I can recall the subsequent weeks that I spent lying awake at night, trying to quell the panic in my nervous system.” The families of the victims can be the most valuable source of information for forensics professionals, but repeated forced exposure to the details of their family’s trauma can cause further harm to people who are still grieving and processing.
An additional ethical concern goes beyond individual people, though. True crime as a genre tends to focus on one demographic, which may lead to distorted perceptions of victims, criminals, and justice. Whitney Philips, an assistant professor of digital platforms and ethics at the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communications, explains that most true crime content focuses on ‘innocent’-seeming, white cisgender women and tends to ignore equally devastating cases when they happen to women of color or sex workers, for example. “You have a certain kind of victim, a certain kind of story, a certain kind of perspective,” she says. “And that’s the thing that gets repeated over and over. And because it gets repeated, that’s what people are familiar with.” This tendency to focus on only one demographic of people may perpetuate the idea that there is only one type of person who can be a victim, or whose story the public would care about.
Why Do People Like True Crime, Anyway?
These stories are, by nature, gory and disturbing. Then why do people choose to consume this content for entertainment purposes, and why do so many people actually find it calming? A part of the appeal is its relatability. The vast majority – 80%, according to criminologist Scott Bonn, PhD – of true crime consumers share a demographic: white middle-class cisgender women. This demographic also comprises many victims of infamous criminal cases covered by the media. Bonn speculates that some women are drawn to true crime content because of their empathetic nature; women see themselves in the depictions of the victims as well as try to understand the motivations of the criminals. “Perhaps at a subconscious level, true crime fans believe that if they can somehow understand Dahmer’s motivations and desires, then he and his ilk are not so terrifying after all,” explains Bonn. “I believe this is particularly true for female true crime fans.”
If you feel relaxed while consuming true crime content, you aren’t alone. An article by WIRED argues that true crime can be beneficial, as it allows people to release tension and emotions in a controlled environment, similar to how loud, overwhelming concerts allow for a cathartic emotional release. When consuming true crime in the form of a podcast or a TV show, the consumer is – or should be – in full control of what and how much they experience. “You can turn off the TV or turn off your laptop or close the book,” explains David Schmid, assistant professor at the University at Buffalo, who studies pop culture and crime in the media. “It’s the way you experience the fear. You experience some of these feelings, but in a way, you are in control.”
For some survivors of abuse or violence, true crime content, in a way, can actually be comforting. Jes Skolnik, a survivor of domestic violence, listens to true crime podcasts regularly. She explains that in her everyday life, talking about her own lived experience draws reactions of either pity or enamorment. But, in the world of true crime media, stories of violence are met with the understanding, patience, and destigmatization that they deserve. “Many true crime shows deal with unsolved cases or missing people who seemed to disappear in thin air, and even shows that take on solved cases often provide little in the way of definitive answers,” says Skolnik. “Those of us who have experienced violence and find refuge in true crime are looking not for closure but for empathy, for understanding, for a world that doesn’t turn its back on the fact that day-to-day violence exists and that it is less freakish than banal.”
The Potential For Harm
However, true crime consumption, like any habit, can have negative effects on the brain as well, like anxiety, sleeplessness, or paranoia. Chivonna Childs, a psychologist at Cleveland Clinic, explains that consistent exposure to violent and disturbing content can cause significant anxiety, agoraphobia, or obsessive-compulsive disorder-like symptoms. People can begin to falsely perceive danger in everyday situations and become suspicious of the intentions of people around them, from strangers on the street to friends and loved ones. “We might start to treat people differently, even people who did nothing wrong other than they look like somebody we saw on this true crime show,” Childs says.
This is not to say that vigilance is inherently a bad thing. Taking general safety precautions, such as avoiding walking alone at night, is healthy and important, and an awareness of common signs of abuse can help someone identify a badly intentioned person in their life before a situation turns dangerous. This anxiety becomes maladaptive once it becomes hypervigilance or paranoia. When one becomes afraid to leave their home, interact with family, or socialize with new people for fear of being assaulted or murdered at the hands of a serial killer, that is a sign of more serious anxiety that may require help from a mental health professional.
So, Can I Keep Consuming My True Crime Content?
Whether true crime content induces a net positive or net negative effect on a person’s brain is entirely dependent on a large number of factors. It’s important to consider why one consumes true crime content, how much one consumes, and how one feels during and afterward. Childs emphasizes balancing true crime with other forms of entertainment, knowing one’s limits, and knowing when to turn off the TV or put the headphones down. “We do have free will to determine whether we’re not going to watch something or if we will,” Childs says. “We must be diligent with what we put into our brains.”
Mental health resources are available. If you have concerns about your mental health or the well-being of someone you know, contact a health care provider, community mental health center, or the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988. If you or someone you know is having immediate thoughts of self-harm, suicide, or harm to others, immediately call 911.
