Dark Justice: Inside the World of Paedophile Hunters

It is difficult to imagine a more heinous crime than the sexual abuse of children. Yet, terrifyingly, a new case of child sexual abuse is reported every seven minutes. In response to this crisis, self-appointed groups of citizens are fashioning themselves as 'paedophile hunters.' Operating outside the law, these groups use social media to bait and expose those seeking to engage children sexually, both on- and offline. Their work has been remarkably effective, but at what cost? Following four years of unprecedented access to the UK's most prolific team of paedophile hunters, Mark de Rond offers balanced and insightful answers to the perplexing question of why these groups persist in using extreme methods to hold predators to account in view of less harmful alternatives. In doing so, he invites us to consider the societal impacts of paedophile hunters on our laws and institutions, as well as societal cohesion and safety.

Mark de Rond is Professor of Organisational Ethnography at Cambridge Judge Business School. He is considered one of the most original and effective researchers in his field. He immerses himself in the life of his subjects, which include doctors and nurses at war, a ragtag band rowing the Amazon, peace activists and paedophile hunters. He seeks to engage with questions to which the answers can actually make a real difference to real people.