From perversion to policy: Knowing and not-knowing in the emergence and management of critical incidents

The paedophile is the bogeyman of our age. The very word itself has become a conduit for fear and public loathing, often beyond all moderation. Indeed, despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of paedophiles are male, commentators reach easily for parallels with a reviled figure from a bygone age - the witch. While we haven't yet
reinvented the ducking stool or trial by water, we have found a pretty effective 21 st-century equivalent in trial by newspaper. And, after being named and shamed, the "guilty" are hounded from the community by a mob baying for blood. (Silverman & Wilson 2002: 1)

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