The Copycat or Modelling Theory

By: Deborah Kombe & Hafssa Zarrai Crimes associated with the Childs Play films; Research on the causation of copycat crimes The Copycat or Modelling Theory What is it? The copycat theory relates to something which is publicized in the media that creates a lot of attention, which results in other people imitating or copying this. Well known examples of this are copycat murders, suicides and other violent acts that come with no motive other than attention, caused by the same acts seen in the media, be it film or books etc.
Whilst the idea of watching a film often is linked to negative behavior, very little research has been done to test this assertion. It is a theory that is maintained by the press rather than research, e.g. The Power Rangers kids mat start copying the stunts as they would want to be super heroes. In December 1993, for people tortured a 16 year old girl called Suzanne Caper. The press said that one of the Childs Play movies influenced the kids. The perpetrator also stunted Suzanne with quotes from the movie.
In 1993, two young boys at the time, John Vanaldes and Robert Thompson, abducted ad murdered a toddler named James Bulger. It was said to have been influenced by Childs Play 3.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_alleged_Natural_Born_Killers_copycat_crimes According to the research based on copycat crimes, it is said that most of the people who commit crimes mimic what they have seen in the media especially from the news or violent movies. In most cases these people have had criminal records, severe metal health problems, or histories of violence. :)