The Visual in Social Science

This chapter describes the origins of visual criminology in visual anthropology, visual sociology, visual theory, cultural studies, media studies, and visual cultures. Noting the emergence of the visual as a field and object of study in a range of disciplines, it details the ways in which visual criminology has drawn on a diverse array of theoretical and methodological tendencies that preceded its formal development. This chapter also defines and operationalizes some key concepts and tensions in the field and in the book.