From fine art to popular digital culture, criminologists are increasingly engaged in the processes of the visual. In this pioneering work, Bill McClanahan provides a concise and lively overview of the origins and contemporary role of visual criminology. Detailing and employing the most prominent approaches at work in visual criminology, this book explores the visual perspective in relation to prisons, police, the environment, and drugs, while noting the complex social and ethical implications embedded in visual research. This original book broadens the horizons of criminological engagement and reveals how visual criminology offers new and critical ways to understand and theorize crime and harm.In this pioneering work, Bill McClanahan provides a concise and lively overview of visual criminology. With examples of the most prominent methods at work in visual criminology, this book explores the visual perspective in relation to prisons, police, the environment, and drugs, while noting the complex ethical implications embedded in visual research.