ABSTRACT
In many ways, sociologists see sex crimes as a way of ‘doing gender’. Messerschmidt has powerfully merged ideas of ‘structured action’ and ‘doing gender’ to show the ways in which men can draw upon social resources in the wider culture to give different meanings to their masculinities and to make sense of various criminal actions. Feminist sociological and socio-legal theories often link crime to masculinities. The dominant way of understanding the crime of rape by society, by the criminal justice system and criminology was that women were, at least in part, to blame for their assault. In 1998 the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda found former mayor, Jean-Paul Akayesu, guilty of nine counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Criminologists have linked pornography to crime in a number of different ways. Sex crimes are a major social problem, with a history of generating anxiety and panic.
