Book review: Men, Masculinities and Violence: An Ethnographic Study
| Author | Brendan Marsh |
| Published date | 01 September 2016 |
| Date | 01 September 2016 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/1748895816655026 |
| Subject Matter | Book reviews |
Criminology & Criminal Justice
2016, Vol. 16(4) 513 –516
© The Author(s) 2016
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DOI: 10.1177/1748895816655026
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Book reviews
Anthony Ellis, Men, Masculinities and Violence: An Ethnographic Study, Routledge: Abingdon, 2016;
180 pp.: 9781138819092, £90.00 (hbk)
Reviewed by: Brendan Marsh, Queen’s University Belfast, UK
In Seductions of Crime, Jack Katz (1988: 47) provocatively states that: ‘[i]f machismo or
male cultures of violence have much effect on homicidal behaviour, the effects must not
be powerful, given the rarity of the event’. Yet Ellis argues that the link between mascu-
linity and violence is unquestionable, if somewhat opaque. Much violence occurs in a
limited number of geographical areas, and is perpetrated by a limited number of offend-
ers, namely, working class men. The text opens with a critical analysis of the develop-
ment of competing strands of criminological and sociological theory that deals with the
role of masculinity in crime and violence. He examines the strengths and inadequacies of
the literature and concludes that much remains hidden about the relationship between
violence and masculinity. The emphasis of his study ‘is upon men who use violence, why
they use it, and how they come to value it’ (p. 15).
In Chapter 3 we meet Darren, a man in his early 30s for whom violence plays a central
role in his life. Darren has dipped in and out of drug use and drug supply, using his con-
siderable size and intimidating presence to make money from illicit drug markets, and
served a short prison sentence for violence related crime. However, it is as a football
hooligan that Darren has perpetrated most of his violence. He is a man who has been
involved in many violent encounters and relishes his reputation as a hardened and expe-
rienced member of a violent football firm. This man cannot be classified as a thug who
stumbles from one violent encounter to another; his life is well organized, his income is
stable and his family is supportive and loving. Therefore, his violence is planned and
controlled, and plays an important role in his sense of self and identity. Violent behaviour
sustains the narcissistic craving for status and feelings of exclusivity that he gleans from
his notoriety. Violence is a practice that is so familiar that ‘he can make recourse with
little restraint and a minimum amount of genuine critical reflection’ (p. 57). Yet Darren’s
violence is as much about his vulnerability as it is about his superiority:
Although a desire for dominance and self-elevation can be detected, his violence has evidently
been stimulated by an intense desire to avoid a terrifying abyss of insignificance, indignity and
humiliation that he believes awaits those men who will stand by passively while others attempt
to dominate them. (p. 58)
655026CRJ0010.1177/1748895816655026Criminology & Criminal JusticeBook reviews
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