When I set about researching for my thesis and began looking for articles and books on assaults on young men in Ireland, I discovered it was a subject, which had been largely ignored by both Sociologists and Criminologists. In contrast to the wide scale research on Youth Drug Culture or Youth Delinquency, there are very few studies about the nature and extent of assaults on young men in Ireland. Faced with this problem I set about researching articles and pieces written on Assault, by Journalists such as Kim Bielenberg and Fintan O’Toole. It was from this research that I discovered much of my theory and it prompted me to research other journals and sociological studies on the diverse factors, which have led to an increase in assaults in recent years. The literature I researched on assaults comes from an array of sources and I have discussed them under a number of headings. These headings, include 1) Crime in Irish Society; 2) Assaults; 3) Alcohol consumption among young people; 4) The Celtic Tiger and its effect on Irish society; 5) Youth Violence and the ‘Crisis of Masculinity’ and 6) The role of the Media in heightening public fear. I have studied this literature in order to gain a better understanding of my hypothesis and sub­ problems of my thesis.