True crime content helps women understand a criminal’s mindset, and promotes a sense of justice
More often than not, true crime stories—whether in the form of books,
podcasts, movies or shows—spotlight details on the thought processes of criminals. Vicary found that even though women fear becoming victims of a crime, they’re interested in the genre because it helps them understand how a crime is perpetrated. What triggered the attacker? How did the victim fall into the trap? What techniques did the victim use to escape? Vicary suggests that while consuming this content, women subconsciously absorb information on coping with horrific situations, and tricks to recognise tell-tale signs which could cause lead to violence.