Stephen Tomsen, Violence, Prejudice and Sexuality
| Date | 01 December 2011 |
| Published date | 01 December 2011 |
| Author | Samuel Muchoki |
| DOI | 10.1177/0004865811420027a |
| Subject Matter | Book Reviews |
of myriad social injustices and processes of criminalization, Cunneen argues that
restorative justice ultimately ‘lacks an analysis of its own significant shortcomings; it
lacks an analysis of political power and social power; it lacks a transformative politics’
(p. 186).
It is almost impossible, in a review of this length, to ‘do justice’ to Debating
Restorative Justice. Chris Cunneen’s and Carolyn Hoyle’s essays provide crucial critical
insights and authoritatively executed scholarly analyses that serve to reflect, define and
extend the core debates in equal measure. It is a remarkable achievement and their book
launches the Debating Law series to excellent effect.
Barry Goldson
University of Liverpool, UK and University of New South Wales, Australia
Stephen Tomsen, Violence, Prejudice and Sexuality, Routledge: New York, 2009, 188 pp.:
9780415956550, £80.00 (hbk), 9780415886550, £24.95 (pbk)
I cannot agree more with Raewyn Connell’s comment about this book:
[It] has the ingredients of a thriller. It has sex and crime. It has decisions with life-and-death
stakes, hidden identities, doubt in high places, courtroom drama, ambushes in the dark and
brutal murder ...But this book is not entertainment. It is something much more important:
social science, original and carefully researched, dealing with very troubling issues of con-
temporary life. (p. iii)
Indeed, Violence, Prejudice and Sexuality can be likened to a journey with myriad routes
that diverge and converge in a way that gives a holistic understanding of the underlying
motives and structures that perpetuate violence against sexual minorities. Tomsen holds
the reader’s hand, and takes them on a captivating expedition full of well articulated the-
oretical perspectives and carefully documented stories – sexual stories, violent stories, and
crime stories – that form the ingredients of this outstanding piece of writing.
The book is small, org anized into nine chap ters (including a co nclusion) present ed
under appealing titles that give an indication of what to expect of the contents.
Furthermore, within each chapter are footnotes that are expanded with detailed
notes under an appendi x (Notes). Tomsen use s the first three chapter s to orient the
reader to the theoretical understanding of human sexualities and their link to violence
against sexual minorities. He also writes about some of the strategies that have been
put in place in the Western world to prevent such crimes. These three chapters also, in
a way, prepare the reade r’s mind for the horrifi c stories that charac terize the later
chapters.
The first chapter of the book gives a brief, yet concise historical synopsis of how
today’s society has come to understand human sexuality by presenting two theoretical
perspectives: essentialism and constructionism. Tomsen identifies the many problems
that the essentialist perspective (a product of bio-medical discourses) has encountered
when attempting to analyse homosexual behaviours. Tomsen argues that these
Book Reviews 443
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