Just images? The tricky link between pictures and crime

The relationship between images and crime will be explored at this week's John Barry Memorial Lecture in Criminology at the University of Melbourne. Violent imagery is sometimes blamed for sparking crimes such as shooting sprees, while some images themselves are deemed criminal - such as graffiti or 'sexting', where somebody sends a nude picture of themselves to an acquaintance. The public lecture ' Just Images? On the Troubling Relationships Between Crime, Culture and Spectatorship ' , by criminologist Professor Alison Young , will examine a range of case studies that reveal contradictions in how society treats images.   "These include debates about the effects of cinema violence , the advent of 'sexting' , street art and graffiti and the increasing use of security cameras, especially following the Jill Meagher case ," Professor Young said. "I want to analyse our unresolved anxieties about how we should deal with confronting our troublesome images," she said. The event will be preceded by presentations from three PhD candidates: Mark Wood (discussing the rise of online 'fight club' videos), Sahar Ghumkhor (the fantasy of the veiled woman) and Tom Andrews (counterfeit money). Each year the Criminology Department within the University's School of Social and Political Sciences hosts the John V. Barry Memorial Lecture.  The first lecture was held in 1972, in memory of Sir John Barry (1903 - 1969), Supreme Court Justice and founder of the University's Criminology Department.  It is one of the oldest named lectures in the University calendar. Embargoed copies of the address are available upon request..     'Just Images?