Crime and the mass media have been inextricably linked throughout the history of the popular media. Typically people express concern about the criminogenic properties of the media, especially with regard to young people. This text looks at the role of the mass media in legal and criminal processes. As well as discussing the impact of the media on specific crimes such as juvenile offending, sex offences, violent crime, drugs, hate crimes and minorities, plus crowd violence and civil disorder, the book also questions whether the media creates "moral panics", in which events are escalated in the public imagination to warrant urgent and massive response from the criminal justice system.

This controversial study investigates the characteristics of individuals who sexually offend against children. Inevitably, therefore, the book concerns the activities of professionals involved in treating and researching sex offenders as well as those of the offenders themselves. Key features of the book include: provision of interview material giving insight into offenders and their lifestyles; discussion of the criminogenic role of sexual fantasy, including pornography, in sexual offences against children; and the origins of offending in childhood sexualization, including the special significance of women in the sexual abuse of future offenders.