Predators is a documentary film about the controversial practice of paedophile hunting, based on a collaboration between director David Osit and Mark de Rond, Professor of Organisational Ethnography at Cambridge Judge, who authored an academic article and a book on the topic.
Three-time Emmy and Peabody Award-winning filmmaker David Osit attended a 16 February screening at Cambridge Judge open to students at the Business School and the wider Cambridge community, taking questions about the subject afterwards. The film, which was nominated for Best US Documentary at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, focuses on the early-2000s rise and fall of the US television show To Catch a Predator and its controversial sting operations.
A smaller screening that evening, hosted by Mark, was followed by a panel discussion about the issues raised involving a former member of a hunting team, senior police officers, representatives of the National Crime Agency and networks of safeguarding organisations operating across the UK, as well as members of the Cambridge Judge community including Dean Gishan Dissanaike.
The real-world impact of business schools and academic research
Bringing together influential people involved in this difficult subject was a key objective of these screenings.
“Bringing together influential people involved in this difficult subject was a key objective of these screenings,” says Mark, who features extensively in the film as an expert commentator. “It was clear from the panel discussion that police cannot arrest themselves out of the problem of paedophilia, so solutions need to be found that involve law enforcement, social services, policymakers and paedophile hunters themselves working effectively alongside each other.
“These sorts of discussions show the impact that business schools and academic research can have in helping to find solutions to some of society’s most thorny problems, so I am delighted that Cambridge Judge could host these screenings and our really useful panel discussion.”
Vigilantes, police and the online grooming crisis
Among topics discussed among the panel were how police and activists can collaborate effectively, how grooming of young people differs in today’s Internet age compared to 2 decades ago when the TV programme aired, the film’s depiction of vigilantism, and how the media can play a more constructive role in finding a solution to online grooming that leads to child abuse. In addition, the discussion focused on divisions within the paedophile hunting community itself and their complex mix of motivations, with many viewing themselves as the last line of defence against exploitation amidst police ineffectiveness.
Police representatives commented that some paedophile hunting groups are highly professional and well-intentioned, while others simply seek to be violent in shaming predators. Predators could join citizen policing operations but many would not view that as satisfactory given the immediate response they seek, the panel heard.
The research behind Mark’s acclaimed study of paedophile hunters
Mark’s book on the subject, published in 2025, is entitled Dark Justice: Inside the World of Paedophile Hunters, and is based on his research while embedded for 4 years with UK paedophile hunters engaged in sting operations.
His 2022 academic study on the topic, published in the Academy of Management Journal, led to a first-place honour in the Financial Times 2024 Responsible Business Education Awards for best business school impactful academic research addressing societal challenges.
Related content
de Rond, M. (2025) Dark justice: inside the world of paedophile hunters. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
de Rond, M., Lok, J. and Marrison, A. (2022) “To catch a predator: the lived experience of extreme practices.” Academy of Management Journal, 65(3): 870-902 (DOI: 10.5465/amj.2020.1492)
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Mark de Rond, Professor of Organisational Ethnography at Cambridge Judge Business School, was named a Runner-Up in the Cambridge Awards for Research Impact and Engagement for his insightful work on the controversial practice of paedophile hunting for which he was embedded with such practitioners over 4 years. Mark was cited in the Established Academic category of the Awards, which are among the most prestigious at the University of Cambridge.
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