Publications
Publications
- 2017
- HBS Working Paper Series
Crime and Violence: Desensitization in Victims to Watching Criminal Events
By: Rafael Di Tella, Lucía Freira, Ramiro H. Gálvez, Ernesto Schargrodsky, Diego Shalom and Mariano Sigman
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.