A MURDEROUS UNDERCLASS - THE PRESS REPORTING OF SEXUALLY MOTIVATED MURDER

The 'underclass' is widely field by commentators of the Right to be re sponsible for a host of social problems, including violent crime. This paper shows how in the reporting of sexually motivated murder in a sa mple of nine British newspapers for one complete year (1992), the imag e constructed is one where unemployed and other marginalised men are p ortrayed as the main perpetrators of sexual violence. This, the author s argue, hampers our understanding of sexual violence, for it suggests that it is only men of a 'low' socio-economic background who are a po tential threat to women and children. It is also suggested that the 's ymbolic environment' of the press reporting of sexual murder provides a context in which a more authoritarian benefit regime and greater con trol of poor communities can be spuriously justified.