Psychology - Are CSI viewers the neater criminals?

Unusual study examines the CSI effect

Crime series, such as CSI, have become very popular over the past two decades. They have given the population an insight into the forensic evidence. So far, however, has never been examined, the benefits of potential criminals can draw from the knowledge that reveal the shows on police work. In the worst case, it is feared that criminals will learn from the shows to better hide a crime. Researchers at Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz have examined this topic in more detail in a recent study.

The team of psychologists at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz under the direction of Professor Heiko Hecht is now giving the all-clear: In an experimental study, the German researchers could not connect the knowledge that viewers can draw from popular forensic series, and the ability to hide an offense. The study, published in the International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice. is the first one to deal with this question.

Rumors have been circulating about the CSI effect in the media for 20 years, especially in the US. A German psychology team explains in a recent study on this phenomenon. (Image: SZ-Designs / fotolia.com)

The CSI effect

The reason for this study was the so-called "CSI effect". The effect is spoken in US jurisprudence when referring to the effects of criminological television series on the behavior of both jurors and criminals. In fact, there were jurors in the US who were rejected by prosecutors because they were known as fans of popular thriller series. The jurors were alleged to imitate their behavior from the series. Many people also suspected that the series had an impact on the behavior of police officers, judges and criminals.

"For many years, it has been suggested that there are certain connections in this regard, even though there were no suitable studies for this," Dr. Andreas Baranowski in a press release. He and his colleagues have now conducted four separate investigations to get to the bottom of this myth.

The four steps of the study

In a first step, the psychologists examined statistics from the databases of the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA). They compared the crime rates in the years before the start of the CSI series with those of the following years. Then they asked 24 convicted criminals in prisons whether in their opinion, series like CSI can help escape law enforcement. Subsequently, in a complex experimental scenario, the researchers studied whether viewers of crime series would actually be better equipped to hide the traces of a trapped crime. In a fourth test, crimes were recreated with the help of a dollhouse.

No CSI effect for criminals

Overall, the researchers found no link between looking at forensic series and the ability to successfully prevent detection after a crime. However, the male subjects in the fourth part of the experiment performed better than the female ones. Even the younger participants were better experimental criminals than the older subjects. In addition, higher-skilled study participants scored better than less well-trained subjects. In addition, male subjects in technical professions seemed to have certain advantages in hiding crimes.

This suggests that the perfect criminal would be a young man with a good education and a technical job.

The CSI effect is an old shoe

Baranowski pointed out that in the past critical voices against thriller series, such as Sherlock Holmes, Quincy and Law & Order came up. "We can now dispel some of the myths that have been circulated in the media and other publications for 20 years, because we can say with relative certainty that people seeing CSI can not hide their tracks better than others," Baranowski explains. (Fp)