The copycat effect and the mass media
As human beings, we can learn from other role models and reproduce their behaviour. The same can happen with crime, and this can be affected by the media. In this article we will analyse the copycat effect, imitation or contagion effect related to crime and to what extent the mass media can influence the commission of criminal acts.
From the time we are small, we act according to the behaviour we see in the people around us, on television, etc. Recently, with the broadcasting of the series "The Squid Game", we have seen how several alarming news items have emerged about the representation of this series in various schools. This is what the copycat effect or contagion effect is all about: the imitation of other people's actions. This effect is also transferred to the criminal sphere, giving rise to copycat killers, copycat mass shooters, etc.
In order to explain this effect, we will focus both on Gabriel Tarde's laws of imitation and Albert Bandura's theory of vicarious or social learning.
According to Tarde, subjects who end up committing criminal acts have learned this in the social environment in which they have developed, since this predisposes them to crime. In 1890, this author elaborated the laws of imitation, which were threefold:
- In large cities this effect occurs more because the high population causes imitation to occur more quickly.
- Subjects who feel inferior imitate those they consider superior.
- Over time, society evolves and, with it, so do criminal habits, as is the case, for example, with cybercrime.
On the other hand, we have a theory of learning psychology, formulated by Albert Bandura in 1977, which is the theory of vicarious or social learning. This theory focuses on modelling, i.e. how children learn to do or not to do something that they observe in their real or symbolic models, such as their parents, teachers, siblings, etc.
Importantly, this theory can be applied not only to children, but also to adults and, as we can see, even in the specific area of crime.
It seems reasonable to understand why children imitate behaviours that they observe in others and that are reinforced, but why would a subject want to commit a criminal act knowing the punishment it has produced in the reference model?
Over time, serial killers have not only generated great social alarm, but have also often generated a certain amount of admiration. Admiration that can even translate into cases of copycat killers.
We must bear in mind that the copycat killer must have a large number of characteristics that really identify him or her with the imitated killer. This is why there are very few true copycat killers, as in many cases the copycat killer has simply inspired or influenced the subject.
For example, one of the fundamental characteristics is that the copycat killer must have the voluntary and conscious intention of imitating another killer, whether real or fictional, as they can also imitate characters from films or books.
They usually imitate very famous killers, in such a way that they look for and analyse their modus operandi in order to imitate them and try to avoid the mistakes they made at the time. However, despite trying to avoid these mistakes, they make others that eventually lead to them being caught.
Among the motivations that lead copycat killers to imitate serial killers are:
- The search for the fame and notoriety that the killers they are trying to imitate had in their time. Thus, these subjects consider that the media attention that the killers got at the time was a reward for the criminal acts they committed and they want the same. In addition to this, the very fact of imitating a previous serial killer can already be considered by the subject as a fantasy in itself.
- Depersonalisation of the subject by imitating other killers, this being a way of adopting a personality that justifies their behaviour. Thus, it may happen that assuming the identity of another subject facilitates the commission of violent acts that they would not otherwise carry out.
- Revenge, especially in the case of copycat mass shooters, and in this case the motivation would coincide with that of the imitated killer. Usually, mass murderers want to pay back society for all the pain they feel it has caused them.
Two typologies of copycat killers can be distinguished, depending on their motivation (finding admiration and notoriety, imitating a murderer to exonerate him or her or revenge) or the person they imitate (including a fictional character, another famous killer, a romantic partner or a peer).
Nowadays, through the mass media we can be informed about everything that happens in the world, and this also includes crime, which is one of the areas that can arouse most interest. Crime exists and will always exist, but the truth is that the media, which reach more and more people or through more and more channels, can lead to certain crimes influencing or inspiring other subjects.
For many years there has been talk of a contagion effect with regard to suicides, mass shootings and gender-based violence, and this could be on the rise due to the great impact of digital media and, above all, social networks.
The contagion effect on suicide, also called the Werther effect, was studied by several sociologists in 1970, concluding that the suicide rate increases according to the level of media coverage given to the suicide of a famous person.
Nowadays, the opposite effect, called the Papageno effect, is being studied, which is when the mass media cover a suicide in a correct and responsible way. What happens in these cases is that it has a preventive effect.
With regard to gender violence, according to some studies, the probability of committing gender violence crimes increases greatly after one has occurred and has been transmitted by various media. Specifically, Isabel Marzabal, after conducting a study in 2015, concluded that the probability of a femicide being committed is 24 times higher when cases of gender violence have appeared in the media in the previous 10 days.
The reality is that few studies have been carried out on the copycat effect in crimes and, moreover, those that exist show that few subjects have actually wanted to consciously imitate a certain criminal. What usually happens is that they have only been influenced. This is because killers, in particular, usually want to differentiate themselves from the rest because of their narcissism.
However, it often happens that the media label some cases as imitations that are not really imitations, either because of sensationalism or because of ignorance.
Some notable imitators are, for example, Heriberto Seda, who imitated the Zodiac Killer from San Francisco, even getting the same nickname, but from a different city, New York.
On the other hand, we have another not so well known one, Steven Miles, who imitated Dexter, the protagonist of a TV series, stabbing his girlfriend, dismembering her and stuffing her in plastic bags.
In a study carried out by Ray Surette in 2002 on a prison population of young people, he found that 26% of them had carried out a crime similar to one they had seen in the media, but actually the most common was to copy the techniques of the most popular media crimes.
Taking into account all of the above, we can conclude that the media can have a great effect on viewers, but the truth is that it is just one more factor that interacts with many others, such as their previous motivation, their individual predisposition or the social context in which they develop.
Ángela Martín García, psychologist specialising in criminal behaviour analysis Sec2Crime
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Bort L. & Ballester, M. (2017). Criminología Psicológica. Copycat: imitando al asesino. Archivos de Criminología, Criminalística y Seguridad Privada, 19, 69-82.
Helfgott, J. B. (2015). Criminal behavior and the copycat effect: Literature review and theoretical framework for empirical investigation. Aggression and violent behavior, 22, 46-64.
Surette, R. (2002). Self-reported copycat crime among a population of serious and violent juvenile offenders. Crime & Delinquency, 48(1), 46-69.
Velasco, P. (2021). Efecto Copycat Killers: imitadores de asesinos. En Velasco, P. Homo Criminalis. El crimen a un clic: los nuevos riesgos de la sociedad actual. (pp 75-91). Ariel.
Velasco, P. (2021). “Monkey see, monkey do”: ¿influyen los mass media en el efecto imitación? En Homo Criminalis. El crimen a un clic: los nuevos riesgos de la sociedad actual. (pp 93-112). Ariel.