Stephen Tomsen – författare

The binary model of sexuality can be devastating and even fatal for people left outside the category of heterosexuality. Essentialist categories of sexuality and gender are often enforced by harassment and violence, as is clear in the case of violence directed against sexual minorities such as homosexual men. This book investigates why men launch assaults on sexual minorities, why these attacks are so vicious and frequently irrational, the identities of perpetrators and their victims, and why such violence seems to have some acceptance in fields such as law, psychiatry, the media and popular opinion. Tomsen discusses the theoretical and research literatures on models of understanding human sexuality and gender and the nature of hate violence and prejudice in contemporary societies, and also provides an analysis from his own original research to draw out the contradictory nature of both sexual identity and violence and the significance of viewing both fields as linked domains. This text makes an important contribution to current and future discussions of the nature of social prejudice and its ties to legal rulings, collective beliefs and mainstream culture.

The binary model of sexuality can be devastating and even fatal for people left outside the category of heterosexuality. Essentialist categories of sexuality and gender are often enforced by harassment and violence, as is clear in the case of violence directed against sexual minorities such as homosexual men. This book investigates why men launch assaults on sexual minorities, why these attacks are so vicious and frequently irrational, the identities of perpetrators and their victims, and why such violence seems to have some acceptance in fields such as law, psychiatry, the media and popular opinion. Tomsen discusses the theoretical and research literatures on models of understanding human sexuality and gender and the nature of hate violence and prejudice in contemporary societies, and also provides an analysis from his own original research to draw out the contradictory nature of both sexual identity and violence and the significance of viewing both fields as linked domains. This text makes an important contribution to current and future discussions of the nature of social prejudice and its ties to legal rulings, collective beliefs and mainstream culture.

Providing a detailed survey of the author’s work over three decades, this book chronicles Tomsen’s studies of interpersonal violence and masculinities, which initiated new approaches and topic areas and informed related theorising.These novel approaches in social science research sparked new pathways of understanding, which are outlined and evaluated in discussions of contemporary research and theoretical debates regarding masculinities and violence. The work reflects phases of study concerning (1) public (and related “private”) urban male violence; (2) anti-gay/anti-queer assaults and homicides, hate crimes, and the ambivalent official responses to these; (3) the ambiguous views of violence and different masculinities that are generated and circulate in criminal justice systems, and in popular (film and online) culture; and (4) frames of understanding masculine violence that have emerged in recent decades to further explain and address the apparent intractability of much offending, its relationship to related forms of social privilege or disadvantage, and preventive measures and programmes that are intended to counter this.Crime, Violence and Masculinities provides insight into the long-term production of knowledge about masculinity and gendered violence that will benefit readers engaged in researching these topics, as well as those with an interest in research results and their translation into related theory more broadly.

Providing a detailed survey of the author’s work over three decades, this book chronicles Tomsen’s studies of interpersonal violence and masculinities, which initiated new approaches and topic areas and informed related theorising.These novel approaches in social science research sparked new pathways of understanding, which are outlined and evaluated in discussions of contemporary research and theoretical debates regarding masculinities and violence. The work reflects phases of study concerning (1) public (and related “private”) urban male violence; (2) anti-gay/anti-queer assaults and homicides, hate crimes, and the ambivalent official responses to these; (3) the ambiguous views of violence and different masculinities that are generated and circulate in criminal justice systems, and in popular (film and online) culture; and (4) frames of understanding masculine violence that have emerged in recent decades to further explain and address the apparent intractability of much offending, its relationship to related forms of social privilege or disadvantage, and preventive measures and programmes that are intended to counter this.Crime, Violence and Masculinities provides insight into the long-term production of knowledge about masculinity and gendered violence that will benefit readers engaged in researching these topics, as well as those with an interest in research results and their translation into related theory more broadly.