Research Tickling the nerves: Why crime content is popular

[C C]

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1070121

INTRO: Consumers of content about serial killers watch and read it to experience intense emotions that are often lacking in everyday life, and to understand the reasons that drive people to commit crimes. However, such content does not contribute to increased aggression. These conclusions were drawn by sociologists from HSE University. The results of their study have been published in Crime, Media, Culture: An International Journal... (MORE - details, no ads)

[Magical Realist]

True...watching crime dramas has never lured me into going out and committing crimes. My primary reason for watching them is to root for the heroes--the police and detectives who solve the case and catch the criminal. Also the plight of the victims and their loved ones, deliciously suffering alongside them the senselessness and burden of their unchosen fate. It's perhaps an ongoing need in me to believe there IS justice after all in this chaotic and indifferent world even though many times there just isn't.