Copycat Crime

Book excerpt: Details the new phenomena of copycat crime inspired by technology and the hyperreality fueled in some people by digital culture and video games. Across her 30-year career in criminology, author Jacqueline Helfgott has watched with fascination and fear as the world has shifted from a place where one-dimensional televised news each evening and newspapers bought each morning provided the only information on crimes and killings. Now, nonstop, instant global news coverage on 24-hour television and the internet enables people to see and replay not only crime, violence, terrorism, and murder coverage provided by journalists in real time, but also Facebook and YouTube feeds filmed by the criminals themselves while perpetrating the crimes. In this riveting text about the consequences of our technical, digital, and cultural changes, Helfgott focuses on how these advances are perpetuating this era's new and more massively deadly acts. The book intertwines vignettes from current events, perpetrator statements, police reports, and current research to show how copycat crimes are linked to media, technology, and our digital culture. Concluding with recommendations to reduce the criminogenic effects of media, technology, and digital culture, this book also includes an appendix listing technology- and media-influenced copycat crimes.