Criminologists explain why RoboCop, Dredd and Running Man make senseS

Yesterday's dystopian thrillers about crime-fighting are tomorrow's perfectly rational solutions to the crime problem. At least, that's what a bunch of criminologists told The Atlantic.

Here are a few sample quotes from The Atlantic's roundup of dystopian crime movies, and what criminologists have to say about them:

"When you look at the technologies that the government is already employing, especially here in the United States, we're very close to RoboCop." — Dawn L. Rothe, director at the International State Crime Research Consortium and associate professor in sociology and criminology at Old Dominion University.

""Given that more things are being seen as criminalized ... I see [Escape From New York as] very possible, especially if the economic conditions continue to worsen and unemployment continues to rise.... I could very easily see [a situation] where they would make a huge area into a prison where people were left in there to their own devices." — Rothe again.

"Minority Report is concerned with the flaws and failures of justice and science against the [real-life] backdrop of wrongful conviction, mass incarceration, DNA technology, and preventive detention—literally 'warehousing' criminals on the pretext of future dangerous behavior" — Michelle Brown, an assistant professor at the University of Tennessee and co-author of the book Criminology Goes to The Movies.

There's tons more at the link, so definitely check out the rest, and learn how Judge Dredd is not actually far-fetched, plus how Running Man makes total sense. They still don't think The Purge is realistic, though. [The Atlantic]