Citation:
Di Tella, Rafael, Alberto Cavallo, and Aldo Sesia. "Hank and Nancy: The Subprime Crisis, the Run on Lehman and the Shadow Banks, and the Decision to Bailout Wall Street." Harvard Business School Case 718-022, October 2017. (Revised April 2019.) View Details|
Working Paper HBS Working Paper Series 2017 Crime and Violence: Desensitization in Victims to Watching Criminal Events |
Abstract
We study desensitization to crime in a lab experiment by showing footage of criminal acts to a group of subjects, some of whom have been previously victimized. We measure biological markers of stress and behavioral indices of cognitive control before and after treated participants watch a series of real, crime-related videos (while the control group watches non-crime-related videos). Not previously victimized participants exposed to the treatment video show significant changes in cortisol level, heart rate, and measures of cognitive control. Instead, previously victimized individuals who are exposed to the treatment video show biological markers and cognitive performance comparable to those measured in individuals exposed to the control video. These results suggest a phenomenon of desensitization or habituation of victims to crime exposure.
Keywords: crime; biological markers; Experiment; victimization; desensitization; Crime and Corruption; Perspective; Attitudes; Behavior;
Citation:
Di Tella, Rafael, Lucía Freira, Ramiro H. Gálvez, Ernesto Schargrodsky, Diego Shalom, and Mariano Sigman. "Crime and Violence: Desensitization in Victims to Watching Criminal Events." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 18-039, October 2017.
