We might consume true crime for all kinds of reasons but the best of true crime is beneficial, rather than tasteless. The different, but at times overlapping, vulnerabilities of these groups are created by choices made in our political and criminal justice processes, and by cultural attitudes and prejudices more generally, such as homophobia and misogyny. Serial killers, for example, disproportionately target sex workers, older women and gay men.
Understanding where, why and when interpersonal violence is likely to occur is not just an individual survival strategy but, at a social level, also allows us to tackle and therefore reduce violent behaviour, which is all too often disproportionately targeted at women and several groups which – for whatever reason – are “othered” in our culture.
For those who think that consuming true crime is a “guilty pleasure”, “pointless”, makes them feel uneasy, or, as one critic put it of the Channel 4 series I co-present with actress Emilia Fox – In the Footsteps of Killers – “ick”, let me explain why.
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