Media, Crime and Racism M. Bhatia, S. Poynting and W. Tufail (Eds.). Switzerland: Springer Nature (2018) 391pp. £129.99 hb, £129.99pb ISBN 978‐3‐319‐71775‐3; 978‐3‐319‐71775‐0 (eBook)
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/hojo.12349 |
| Date | 01 December 2019 |
| Author | D. Canciani |
| Published date | 01 December 2019 |
The Howard Journal Vol58 No 4. December 2019 DOI: 10.1111/hojo.12347
ISSN 2059-1098, pp. 580–586
Book Reviews
Sexual Offending: A Criminological Perspective P. Lussier and E. Beauregard (Eds.). Abing-
don: Routledge/Taylor & Francis (2018). 409pp. £120.00hb ISBN 978113869703;
£34.99pb ISBN 9781138697041
The fact that this book is written from a criminological perspective is welcome, as the
editors rightly point out that the criminological voice has been largely absent in research
on sexual offending when compared with the contributions from psychology and
psychiatry. It also presents a fresh and different outlook, not only on the perpetrating
of sexual offences, but through also taking a close look at society’s response to such
behaviour and crucially, how the media have played a primary role in shaping public
perceptions and attitudes towards perpetrators of sexual abuse. The book is set out in
an easy-to-read format and each chapter summarises the key points at the end and also
gives a synopsis of future research needs in relation to the topic covered in the chapter.It
is written by leading international researchers, academics, and therapists from Canada,
the Netherlands, Australia, and the United States. The book is divided into three parts.
Part One deals with explanatory and socio-legal theoretical perspectives; Part Two
covers a range of special topics like sexual exploitation and human trafficking and sexual
assault on college campuses; Part Three covers the practical application of research and
focuses on aspects like risk assessments and criminal investigation of sexual offences.
The book takes a critical look at the current debates and discourses of sexual offending
and raises very relevant issues such as:
rThe need to shift attention away from the exclusive focus on the characteristics of the
perpetrator and to broaden the scope of explanatory factors across the life course of
the person and to pay more attention to patterns of continuity and discontinuity of
sexually abusive behaviour over time that are in line with desistance approaches.
rThe growing evidence that extreme monitoring of people with convictions for sexual
offences has highly detrimental effects by largely preventing them from successfully
reintegrating back into society after a prison sentence. It raises the issue of whether
public protection measures have gone too far and are not effective in preventing
further sexual offending. The chapter written by Danielle Harris and Richard Laws
makes a powerful statement that for too long the field has been consumed with
risk, relapse, and recidivism, instead of concentrating on rehabilitation, recovery,and
redemption.
rThe growing trend of focusing intensive resources on a relatively small group of
high-risk perpetrators of sexual abuse means that there are not sufficient resources
and interventions for many low-level perpetrators of sexual abuse who show potential
for success and desistance, and are desperate for assistance when they come out of
prison.
rThe strong role that some parts of the media have played in the portrayal of sexual
abuse has crucially influenced public policy and shaped attitudes towards perpetrators
of sexual abuse. Consequently, misperceptions about perpetrators of sexual abuse
appear prominently endorsed in modern society.
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2019 The Howard League and John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK
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