The proposed study examines the psychological underpinning of true crime obsession to demonstrate why this genre became popular. Hence, for this purpose, it is vital to present general information on the subject. The sources providing these data are the articles written by James Norton and the video “America Is Obsessed With Serial Killers.” The former narrates about the evolution of this obsession (Norton). The latter, in turn, describes the situation in the United States (“America Is Obsessed With Serial Killers”). They seem useful for research, but it would be reasonable to use the book written by Tanya Horeck as it provides comprehensive information on both subjects. The psychological aspect is considered in the articles of Scott A. Bonn, Jess Scherman, and Aly Semigran. The first source presents an overview of the psychology behind this phenomenon (Bonn). The second article provides the reasons why people are fascinated with true crime (Scherman). The third article depicts the addictive nature of this genre, particularly for women (Semigran). Due to the extensiveness of information, the second source will be more beneficial for the research question.
The other selected sources, the articles written by Cassibry, Cooper, and Soen, provide the societal perspective on the obsession. Thus, the first article highlights the role of fear, whereas the second publication considers the phenomenon’s effects (Cassibry; Cooper). The third source explains the orientation of people on the lives of others (Soen). To answer the research question, it would be better to use Cooper’s article since it addresses the consequences of true crime obsession for the present-day society while providing numerous examples. This publication also considers the impact of people’s opinions on their friends’ true crime posts, which is invaluable for evaluating this aspect. In this way, the identified three sources will help the target audience, college students, scholars, and inquisitive adults, to see the problem through the lens of its precondition and consequences.
Works Cited
“America Is Obsessed with Serial Killers.” YouTube, uploaded by The Atlantic, 2019. Web.
Bonn, Scott A. “The Delightful, Guilty Pleasure of Watching True Crime TV.” Psychology Today, 2016. Web.
Cassibry, Cassandra. “What’s the Deal with the True Crime Obsession?.” InPathy Bulletin, 2020. Web.
Cooper, Kelly-Leigh. “Is Our Growing Obsession with True Crime a Problem?” BBC, 2019. Web.
Horeck, Tanya. Justice on Demand. True Crime in the Digital Streaming Era. Wayne State UP, 2019.
Norton, James. “The Phenomenon of True Crime.” Excelsior College, 2018. Web.
Scherman, Jess. “The Psychology Behind Society’s True Crime Obsession.” Rasmussen College, 2019. Web.
Semigran, Ali. “Why True-Crime and Murder Content Is so Frighteningly Addictive – Especially for Women.” Well + Good, 2019. Web.
Soen, Hayley. “Experts Explain Our ‘Morbid Fascination’ with True Crime and Serial Killers.” The Tab, 2020. Web.