Lurid lyrics not seen as likely cause of violence

Drew Logan Shaw, one of four teenage suspects facing charges in the Matthew Silliman murder case, identified himself on his MySpace page as a "Juggalo" -- a fan of Insane Clown Posse. That inspired some media outlets to parse ICP songs including "Wax Museum," "Murda Cloak" and "Like It Like That" for lyrical references to duct tape, hammers to the head, tarot cards and other details mentioned in search warrants in the Silliman case.

A performance-art duo from Detroit, Insane Clown Posse first formed in the late 1980s. The group combines hip-hop and heavy metal with the narrative aesthetic of slasher films into a shock-comedy style called "horrorcore." Although radio airplay is limited because the lyrics are so extreme, ICP has sold millions of albums.

Investigators have said nothing official about connections between Insane Clown Posse lyrics and Silliman's death. The group's management did not respond to a request for comment.

Since the heyday of Elvis Presley, music and popular culture have been cited as potential causes of misbehavior. Marilyn Manson was blamed for the 1999 Columbine school shootings in Colorado after it emerged that the perpetrators, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, were fans. And the MTV series "Jackass" caused much controversy after a wave of teenagers suffered injuries while imitating the show"s televised stunts in real life.

A 2003 study by the American Psychological Association did find that songs with violent lyrics "increase aggression-related thoughts and emotions." But it stopped short of claiming that violent lyrics cause listeners to imitate what they hear.

Robert Thompson, a professor of popular culture at Syracuse University, says it's far more likely that violent music reflects tendencies than causes behavior.

"I think that people of a certain proclivity are going to look for culture that expresses that, too," Thompson says. "The possibility that some kids were acting out a song should not imply that the song made them do it. For every one kid who does something like that, there are 10,000 if not millions more who are just listening to it while doing their French homework."