Description
Book SynopsisDavid Wilson is one of the UK's best-known and most innovative criminologists. This thought-provoking book stems from the author's parallel experiences in the public eye - as a reporter for Sky News and contributor to BBC, ITV and both national and local newspapers and magazines, especially in relation to high profile cases and fast-moving events in the field of crime and punishment. 'Looking for Laura' provides a window through which to appreciate the media pressures that this can create even for a professor in this field and former prison governor with considerable experience of working with offenders who hit the headlines. The book also looks at the way in which crime is packaged and presented for consumption by a news-hungry public. By considering a range of media situations in which the author has been involved, it provides an absorbing context within which to understand the still relatively new field of public criminology. It has a Foreword by the award-winning investigative journalist Donal MacIntyre
Trade Review'This significant contribution to criminological studies offers a text where both scholar and common reader can understand the issues regarding crime reporting and society... while the term "public criminology" has recently gained popularity, it can convincingly be argued that Wilson was a public criminologist before it was in vogue': Howard Journal of Criminal Justice. 'Full of observations and insights that reward careful reading, but more than a source of reflection, it is also an attempt to inspire, incite and provoke criminologists into action': Prison Service Journal 'A provocative, readable and interesting text that straddles several areas of criminological theory and specialism, but strikes first and foremost as a stimulating read and a book which makes you think more about public criminology. What it should be and whether and how it should be undertaken. For that reason it should be one of those at the forefront of debate on academic criminology's function and purpose and I hope it enjoys a sufficient readership and acts to re-invigorate and stimulate future debates about the role and function of "public criminology"': Probation Journal 'An excellent addition for those students studying subjects with a focus on cultural criminology. An interesting and engrossing text and an excellent addition for the discipline': Paul Taylor, University of Chester 'An inspiring and intelligent read': Donal MacIntyre (from the Foreword). As featured on the BBC Radio 2 Jeremy Vine Show.
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction 1. - Children, the Internet and the Crime Figures 2. - Serial Killer Thrillers 3. - The Chief Constable - The Tale of a Criminal Justice Professional 4. - Celebrity Cons - Bronson, Banged Up and Bad Girls 5. - Serial Killers - Now You See Them, Now You Don't 6. - The Righteous Slaughter of Some Shootings 7. - The Offender Profiler 8. - Explaining OrdinaryA" Murder and Murder Investigations Postscript A Guide to Further Reading and Other References . Index
