An Analysis of True Crime’s Treatment of Murder Victims

Abstract

True crime is a non-fiction genre that focuses on real crimes and those who were involved. As one may expect, this brings attention to victims of violent crimes. With such a delicate topic, true crime needs to maintain ethical practices. Many have speculated that victims are disrespected in these retellings, but in pre-existing research, no one has measured the extent of this disrespect. As such, the following question presented itself: What is the extent of murder victim maltreatment by true crime media present on Hulu as of 2022? To answer this question, a quantitative, exploratory media analysis was completed through the use of a codebook, which assigns point values that can be combined into an overall maltreatment score. The main focus of this codebook was the narrative and imagery shown throughout an episode. Starting with all true crime series, the sample size was narrowed down to five series. These five series were coded and received an overall maltreatment score. It was found that on average, these five series displayed a substantial amount of maltreatment towards murder victims. Additionally, further analysis showed that the treatment of victims was somewhat dependent on the killers. Not only does this demonstrate an injustice to the victims themselves, but also to those that knew them.