Copycat Crime

Reviews / Votes

The CEOs of Google, Microsoft, Meta, and Apple need to read this book. We gamble with our future to ignore the nexus among criminality, technology, media, and the digital world. Dr. Helfgott is the first to give us a road map into this darkness-virtually unknown and often ill considered. It brings me hope for our children and grandchildren whose lives will be fully lived both online and on the ground. * J. Reid Meloy, PhD, ABPP, forensic psychologist, author of The Psychopathic Mind * We tend to think of acts of criminal violence triggered by some spectacle, scene, or narrative encountered in the media as unusual and rare events. Yet aestheticized violence has a well-documented history dating back to such popular literary tropes as the criminal as artist, murder as a fine art, and motiveless actes gratuits. This phenomenon has now taken on new urgency with the fast-spreading images of our media-saturated age in which performance artists are often virtually indistinguishable from performance criminals, and seemingly inexplicable acts of mimetic violence routinely erupt in fatal cycles of imitation and obsession. Drawing on data and insights compiled over the past half century in criminology, media technology, sociology, literature, and the law, Dr. Helfgott has brought much needed clarity and specificity to the broad category of copycat crime. Most significantly, she has opened promising pathways for future research and preventative action to address this increasingly pervasive, rapidly evolving, and arguably least understood manifestation of criminal behavior in our time. * Joel Black, University of Georgia, USA, author of The Aesthetics of Murder and The Reality Effect: Film Culture and the Graphic Imperative * In a contemporary world of live-streamed mass shootings and televised insurrections, the mediated copycat crime has now emerged as a definitive form of social violence-and Jacqueline Helfgott's new book now emerges as the essential resource for making sense of this tragic phenomenon. Taking the reader through spirals of criminal replication and imitation, she interweaves sophisticated theory, sharp historical analysis, and useful recommendations for policy and law. All in all, Copycat Crime constitutes a courageous intellectual confrontation with the criminogenic dynamics of the digital age. * Jeff Ferrell, emeritus professor of sociology, Texas Christian University, USA * Jacqueline Helfgott has been ahead of the curve on studying the dangers of copycat effects. As her most recent book shows, hundreds of people have been murdered by people who drew inspiration from disturbing characters in movies or books, or from real life mass shooters or serial killers in the news. Helfgott's analysis of this phenomenon is thought-provoking, and the book's details on copycat attackers are a gold mine for researchers. * Adam Lankford, professor of criminology, The University of Alabama, USA * In the 20th century, social scientists cautioned the public not to overestimate the influence of the media on violent behavior. With the explosion of digital media that relationship has changed. Jacqueline B. Helfgott's Copycat Crime does the vitally needed work of updating our understanding of the contagion effect of violence in the media. Linking classic theoretical perspectives of early sociologists, like Emile Durkheim, to live-streamed murders by right-wing extremists, Helfgott's volume is an urgent call to rethink the role digital and social media plays in our lives. * Randall Blazak, PhD, Executive Director of the Center for the Study of Men and MMasculinities, USA * This is the book I have been waiting for! In Copycat Crime, How Media, Technology and Digital Culture Inspire Criminal Behavior and Violence, Dr. Helfgott discusses violent criminal behavior through the lens of copycat crimes, and how such behavior is shaped by our digital culture, technology and the media. We all love the benefits and pleasures that today's technology and media give us. But we must understand the dark side these influences have on our society, specifically criminal behavior - in ways that are stunning, even terrifying. Dr. Helfgott, who has researched and studied violent crime and copycat crimes for decades is unquestionably one of the most preeminent criminologists in the United States. Her theories and research into the causes and evolution of violent behavior and copycat crimes is essential for everyone to understand but especially for professionals working in the field - from judges to psychologists to FBI Profilers. * Mary Ellen O'Toole, PhD, Director of Forensic Science Program, George Mason University, USA * Professor Helfgott has wonderfully integrated scientific theories and findings with case histories in making the case that entertainment and news media can inspire copycat criminal behavior. It is an excellent scholarly read! * Craig A. Anderson, Distinguished Professor of Psychology, Iowa State University, USA * Helfgott summarizes the research on copycat crime, explores critical incidents, reviews key court cases, and offers recommendations to decrease media-influenced violence. An impressive achievement. * Peter Langman, PhD, Drift Net Securities, USA, author of Warning Signs: Identifying School Shooters Before They Strike *