Could High-Profile Shootings Cause Copycats?

Warning: As you can tell from the title, this podcast covers a potentially distressing topic.

Recent events have had us wondering about “copycat” violence. If people see violence reported in the media, are thRey more likely to do the same thing themselves? Does this apply to homicide, or suicide too?

We start with an episode on suicide—one on homicide is coming soon. What’s the evidence for suicide contagion? What does this mean for how we should portray suicide in the news, and in fiction? As ever, there’s a scientific controversy behind every question.

This is paid-only episode of the Science Fictions podcast: become a paid subscriber to hear the whole thing and read the show notes.