Organized crime, violence and support for the state
研究意大利5374人样本发现，接触有组织犯罪暴力新闻图像反而提升了对国家机构和治理的信任，尽管多数人高估了暴力趋势。对政府和非政府组织感兴趣的非镇压式反犯罪策略有启示。
Citizens’ support is crucial to effectively combat organized crime, a substantial threat to many countries. Contrary to prior studies identifying a negative correlation between crime and trust in the state, studying a representative sample of 5374 individuals in Italy we find that exposing the participants to journalistic images of organized crime-related violence increases trust towards institutions and state performance (measured by donations to a governmental as opposed to a non-governmental organization), perceived institutional quality, and trust in political institutions . This is remarkable considering that the participants are overly pessimistic about trends in violence: About two-thirds believe that mafia-related homicides and total homicides increased in Italy over the last two decades, and half believe that they increased by over 20%, while in reality both types of homicides declined by over 60%. These findings are relevant for governments and organizations interested in non-repressive methods to fight criminal organizations, as they underscore the potential impact of media narratives on shaping public attitudes toward crime and state authorities.