Working Groups

Chair: Michael McGuire (m.mcguireb @ bsurrey.ac.uk)

Origins of the Working Group

At its meeting during the ninth conference of the European Society of Criminology in Ljubljana, the European Governance of Public Safety Research Network (EUGPSRN) agreed to reconstitute itself as the ‘Crime, Science and Politics’ Working Group. This decision reflects the evolving interests of working group members from a specific concern with the kinds of politics of control generated by partnerships of state, market and civil society actors (‘governance’) to a broader set of interests in interactions between politics and crime control and political analysis and criminological research. The focus on crime, science and politics reflects current controversies around these interactions, such as: the tensions between scientific inquiry and popular-democratic representation in evidence-based policy-making; the call for social scientists to become ‘public intellectuals’ with a duty to intervene in and shape public controversies around crime and control; disputes over the appropriate methodological frameworks for evaluating ‘what works’ in crime control; and disputes over the possibility and desirability of demarcating science and politics in these controversies.

Aim and Objectives of the Working Group on Crime, Science and Politics

Given these origins, the aim of the working group is:
«To facilitate research into the relationship between scientific expertise and political action in the formulation, implementation and evaluation of public policy responses to crime and deviance».

Specific objectives in support of this aim are:

To consider the relationship between scientific inquiry and popular-democratic representation in policy responses to crime and deviance;
To examine the role of political analysis in criminological research;
To consider the possibility and desirability of demarcating political analysis from scientific inquiry in criminological research;
To question the politics and ethics of the research relationship between criminologists and those who commission and use criminological research;
To consider the role of criminologists in public policy-making;
To question the epistemological status of criminological knowledge relative to other narratives about crime and control.

Forthcoming Activities

The working group will convene panels of papers relating to the above aim and objectives at annual meetings of the ESC. The working group provides opportunities for researchers interested in science-politics interactions in criminology, crime and control to exchange ideas for collaborative writing and research and further stimulate comparative understanding in European criminology.

Membership of the Network

The constitution of the working group is relatively informal and participation in its activities is open to all members of the ESC who share a research interest in its aim and objectives. Offers of papers and suggestions for themed panels to be convened by the working group at the annual meetings of the ESC are welcome. Please contact the chair, Sirpa Virta, at m.mcguire @ surrey.ac.uk, for further details of the working group’s activities.

Chair: Victor van der Geest (v.vander.geest @ vu.nl) & Janna Verbruggen (j.verbruggen @ vu.nl)

Origins

The development of antisocial behaviour within individuals’ lives is the focal point of Developmental and Life-course Criminology (DLC), an exciting and growing research area in criminology. Much of the knowledge base on the longitudinal patterning of delinquency and crime over the life span has emerged from using data from the United States, Great Britain and more recently Australia. Yet, developmental patterns result from the complex interplay between individual and contextual factors, including societal and legal institutions. Since these institutions differ cross-nationally, developmental patterns may do so accordingly. DLC-research from other – European – countries is thus inexplicable to gain detailed knowledge on criminal careers and test developmental criminological theories. Fortunately, longitudinal projects on the development of antisocial behaviour are underway in various European countries and the number of European researchers on DLC-topics is substantial and growing. In order to stimulate DLC-research in Europe and to promote contact between the various European research groups working on DLC-issues, we have established the European Developmental and Life-course Criminology working group. We would like to invite ESC members involved in longitudinal studies on the development of delinquency and crime to combine their expertise and join the working group.

Aim

To facilitate research on developmental and life course criminology and maximize international dissemination of DLC-research results.

Objectives

A number of specific objectives in support of this aim have been established:

• promote communication between European DLC-researchers
• organize thematic DLC-sessions at the annual ESC meetings
• establish cross-national research ties and promote international collaboration on DLC-topics
• offer a ‘best European paper’ award for outstanding research in the DLC-field

Membership

The working group is chaired by and its activities coordinated by Arjan Blokland and Paul Nieuwbeerta. All ESC-members involved in longitudinal research projects are invited to join. If you would like to join, please send your name, position, affiliation, and a description of the research project you are working on to edlc.esc@nscr.nl.

Acting Chairs: Jake Phillips (jake.phillips @ shu.ac.uk) and Sergio Grossi (sgrossi @ ucm.es)

Members:

– McNeill, Fergus, Professor of Criminology & Social Work, Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research, University of Glasgow, UK (Scotland), f.mcneillb @ blbss.gla.ac.uk

– Bauwens, Aline, PhD Student, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Department of Criminology, Belgium, aline.bauwens @ vub.ac.be

– Blay, Ester, Visiting lecturer, Law Department, Universitat Pompeu Fabra (Barcelona), Spain, ester.blay @ upf.edu

– Boone, Miranda, Associate Professor of Criminology and Criminal Law, Willem Pompe Institute for Criminal Law and Criminology, University of Utrecht, the Netherlands, M.M.Boone @ uu.nl

–  Cid, Jose, Lecturer in Criminal Law and Criminology, Departament de Ciencia Politica i Dret Public Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Spain, josep.cid @ uab.es

– Carr, Nicola, University of Nottingham, UK lqznc @ exmail.nottingham.ac.uk

–  Duenkel, Frieder, Professor, Department of Criminology, Faculty of Law and Economics, University of Greifswald, Germany, duenkel @ uni-greifswald.de

– Durnescu, Ioan, Lecturer, School of Sociology & Social Work, University of Bucharest, Romania, idurnescu @ gmail.com

– Fellegi, Borbala, Hungary, borbala @ fellegi.hu

– Fitzgibbon, Wendy, Middlesex University, UK (England), W.Fitzgibbon @ mdx.ac.uk

– Gelsthorpe, Loraine, Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge, UK (England), lrg10 @ cam.ac.uk

– Grafl, Christian, University of Vienna, Austria, christian.grafl @ univie.ac.at

– Healy, Deirdre, University College Dublin, Ireland, deirdre.healy @ ucd.ie

– Herzog-Evans, Martine, Professor, Criminal Law, Law Faculty, University of Reims, France, martineevans @ ymail.com

– Hucklesby, Anthea, Reader in Criminology, University of Leeds, UK (England) A.Hucklesby @ bham.ac.uk

– Kensey, Annie, Demographer, Prison Administration, Associated Researcher at CESDIP/CNRS, France, Annie.kensey @ justice.gouv.fr

– Kerezsi, Klara, Hungary, kerezsi @ okri.hu

– Lulei, Martin, Slovakia, martin.lulei @ gmail.com

– McIvor, Gill, Professor, University of Stirling, UK (Scotland), gillian.mcivor @ stir.ac.uk

– Maguire, Mike, Professor, Cardiff University, UK (Wales), maguireathome @ btinternet.com

– Maguire, Niamh, Waterford Institute of technology, Ireland, NMAGUIRE @ wit.ie

– Mair, George, Professor, Liverpool John Moore’s University, UK (England), mairg @ hope.ac.uk

– Maruna, Shadd, Professor, Queen’s University Belfast, UK (Northern Ireland), s.maruna @ qub.ac.uk

– Morgenstern, Christine, Research Associate, Department of Criminology, Faculty of Law and Economics, University of Greifswald, Germany, mostern @ uni-greifswald.de

– Larrauri, Elena, Professor of Criminal Law and Criminology, Law Department, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 08005 Barcelona, Spain, Elena.larrauri @ upf.edu

– O’Donnell, Ian, University College Dublin, Ireland, ian.odonnell @ ucd.ie

– Ravagnani. Luisa, University of Brescia, Italy, ravagnani @ jus.unibs.it

– Raynor, Peter, Professor of Criminology & Criminal Justice, Centre for Criminal Justice and Criminology, Swansea University, UK (Wales), p.raynor @ swansea.ac.uk

– Robinson, Gwen, Senior Lecturer, Department of Law, University of Sheffield, UK (England), G.J.Robinson @ sheffield.ac.uk

– Snacken, Sonja, Professor, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium, Sonja.Snacken @ vub.be

– Storgaard, Anette, Ass. Prof., School of Law, University of Aarhus, Denmark, as @ law.au.dk

– Svensson, Kerstin, Professor, Lund University, School of Social Work, Sweden, kerstin.svensson @ soch.lu.se

– Tata, Cyrus, University of Strathclyde, UK (Scotland), cyrus.tata @ strath.ac.uk

– Ugelvik, Thomas, University of Oslo, Norway, thomas.ugelvik @ jus.uio.no

– Ugwudike, Pamela, Lecturer in Criminology, Centre for Criminal Justice and Criminology, Swansea University, UK (Wales), p.ugwudike @ soton.ac.uk

– Van Zyl Smit, Dirk, University of Nottingham, UK (England), Dirk.Van-zyl-smit @ nottingham.ac.uk

– Varona Gómez, Daniel, Senior lecturer, Department of Public Law, University of Girona, Spain, daniel.varona @ udg.edu

– Beyens, Kristel, Professor, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Department of Criminology, Brussel, Belgium, kristel.beyens @ vub.ac.be

– Schinkel, Marguerite, University of Glasgow, School of Social and Political Science, UK, Marguerite.Schinkel @ glasgow.ac.uk

This working group (formed in December 2007) exists to encourage networking, foster discussion, stimulate empirical research, enable theoretical development and encourage critical and comparative work on community sanctions in European jurisdictions. Its specific interests and concerns include:

1. The historical development of community-based criminal justice sanctions in European jurisdictions, how community sanctions in European jurisdictions are currently configured (both as legal orders and as related penal practices) and whether, in what ways and to what extent they are subject to significant ongoing reconfiguration or transformation

2. The emergence and significance of new forms of community sanction, such as compulsory drug treatment and electronic monitoring

3. The effectiveness of these sanctions and their impacts:

a. on sentencing
b. on offenders
c. on victims
d. on communities
e. on other stakeholders

4. Public attitudes to and media representations of such measures

The group will be formally launched at the ESC conference in Edinburgh in September 2008 through a series of themed sessions addressing the four issues identified above.

ESC members interested in finding out more about the group or in joining it, should contact at Jake Phillips (jake.phillips @ shu.ac.uk) and Sergio Grossi (sgrossi @ ucm.es).

Chairs:

– Leonel da Cunha Gonçalves (Leonel.daCunhaGoncalves @ hcuge.ch) please direct all future correspondence regarding the group to this email.
– An-Sofie Vanhouche (An-Sofie.Vanhouche @ vub.be)
– Stéphanie Baggio (stephanie.baggio @ unibe.ch)

Origins

Imprisonment is currently the most severe governmental sanction imposed on criminal offenders in Europe. Approximately one million persons are confined in penal institutions across Council of Europe countries, and prison populations have been growing in two thirds of them. Therefore, substantial numbers of people have had a prison experience and increasing numbers of people are released from prisons back into society. It is important to know the impact of incarceration on these (ex-)prisoners and whether there are long-term unanticipated consequences of imprisonment on the further lives of ex-prisoners and their families.

Despite its manifest importance in crime prevention, there is surprisingly little knowledge on life in prisons as well as the (causal) effects of imprisonment. While some literature is available about prison climate and the effects of imprisonment on recidivism, far less is known about the effects of imprisonment on more conventional life domains such as socio-economic status (employment, living conditions), family formation and disruption, social integration, and health. Moreover, the methodological designs of most existing studies are inadequate to overcome selection effects and, therefore, cannot make causal inferences about the relationships between imprisonment and the further life course. Additionally, most prior studies did not address questions regarding mechanisms that might explain the effects of imprisonment on life-course circumstances.

This means that basic questions regarding the (causal) effects of incarceration on criminal behavior and life course circumstances of convicted persons and their family members remain largely unanswered.

In order to stimulate prison research in Europe and to promote contact between the various European research groups working on imprisonment, we have established the ESC working group on imprisonment. We would like to invite all ESC members involved in studies on prison life and the consequences of imprisonment to combine their expertise and join the working group.

The specific interests of the working group include:

1. Life in prison

2. The effectiveness and impact of prison sentences on:

a).life courses of ex-prisoners (e.g. socioeconomic status; labor participation; social networks; health)

b).future criminal behavior of ex-prisoners

c).life courses and criminal behavior of ex-prisoners’ families

3. Causal effects of imprisonment on the further life course of ex-prisoners and their families

4. Mechanisms explaining the (causal) effects of imprisonment

5. Theories and a theoretical integration of knowledge on the effects of imprisonment

Aim

To facilitate and encourage research on life in prisons and the consequences of imprisonment, and to maximize international dissemination of prison research results.

Our objectives are

1. To promote communication between European researchers on imprisonment
2. To organize thematic sessions at the annual ESC meetings
3. To establish cross-national research ties and promote international collaboration on prison research

Membership

The working group is chaired by and its activities coordinated by Anja Dirkzwager. All ESC-members involved in research projects on prison life and its consequences are invited to join. If you would like to join, please send your name, position, affiliation, and a description of the research project(s) you are working on to: adirkzwager @ nscr.nl.

Former chairs of the working group

– Anja Dirkzwager (chair and founder, 2010-2024)
– Kirstin Drenkhahn (co-chair, 2010-2018)

Contact address:

Dr. Leonel da Cunha Gonçalves

Geneva University Hospitals

Division of Prison Health

Domaine de Belle-Idée – Les Voirons

Chemin du Petit-Bel-Air 2

CH-1226 Thônex

Tel.: 0041 22 305 52 23

Email: leonel.dacunhagoncalves @ hug.ch

Chairs: Stefan Harrendorf (stefan.harrendorf @ uni-greifswald.de ) & Marcelo Aebi (marcelo.aebi @ unil.ch)

The European Sourcebook Group is a group of experts that produces on a regular basis the European Sourcebook of Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics. The European Sourcebook Group became an ESC Working Group in 2008.

The first European Sourcebook project started in 1996. In that year the Council of Europe established a committee to prepare a compendium of crime and criminal justice data for its member states. Information was collected from 36 European countries covering the period 1990 to 1996. It included both statistical data and information on the statistical rules and the definitions behind these figures. This resulted in the publication by the Council of Europe of the first European Sourcebook in 1999. Also a ‘Key Findings’ bulletin was published in 2000 and an issue of the European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research (Vol. 8, No. 1, 2000) was mainly devoted on some results of the Sourcebook data.

A second European Sourcebook project sponsored by the governments of Switzerland, United Kingdom and the Netherlands was completed and the findings were published in December 2003 by the Dutch WODC in their publications series (nr. 212). The publication reports on criminal justice data for 40 European countries covering the period 1995 – 2000. A special double issue of the European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research (Vol. 10, Nos. 2-3, 2004) was devoted to the results of the Sourcebook data.

In June 2006 the third edition, sponsored by France, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, was published again in the WODC publication series (nr. 241). This edition is a limited one: not all tables were updated. It covers the years 2000 – 2003 for 37 countries.

The fourth edition, covering the years 2003-2007, was sponsored by the Netherlands and Switzerland (University of Lausanne). It was published in 2010 in the WODC publication series (nr. 285). It is a full edition, with some new crime types added.

The 5^th edition of the European Sourcebook of Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics (Aebi, Akdeniz, Barclay, Campistol, Caneppele, Gruszcynska, Harrendorf, Heiskanen, Hysi , Jehle et al. (2014) European Sourcebook of Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics. 5^th ed. Helsinki: HEUNI Publications Series 80) was published in 2014, and a revised second printing from 2017 is available for free download on the European Sourcebook Website (www.unil.ch/europeansourcebook). In addition, the database, including police, prosecution, court and prison statistics from 40 European countries, has been made available for researchers through the same website, run by Marcelo Aebi and hosted by the University of Lausanne. Furthermore, in-depth analyses were conducted by members of the European Sourcebook Group and published in a special issue of the European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research on “Crime and Criminal Justice in Europe” (2018). In a European comparative perspective, this issue includes articles on the attrition process within the criminal justice system, trends in police recorded crime, special juvenile criminal justice statistics, development of community sanctions and measures, as well as the development of homicides.

The preparation for the next data collection wave started in 2017, and an improved questionnaire has been developed. For this sixth edition, the European Sourcebook Group will be collaborating with the Council of Europe in the framework of the project LINCS (Linking International Criminal Statistics). The first meeting of the LINCS project, with the participation of national correspondents from all the member states of the Council of Europe, took place at the premises of the Council, in Strasbourg, on 16 and 17 April 2018. The data collection should be completed by the end of 2018, and a second meeting, whose aim is to validate the data received, will take place in Spring 2019. Thus, in principle, the 6^th edition of the European Sourcebook of Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics should be available, in print and electronic versions, by the end of 2019. The Group is planning to organized panel sessions about it in the upcoming conferences of the European Society of Criminology in Sarajevo (2019), Ghent (2020) and Florence (2021).

All editions of the European Sourcebook (and the original data) are available for free download in the group’s Webpage:
www.unil.ch/europeansourcebook/

Chair: Cyrus Tata (Cyrus.Tata @ strath.ac.uk)

Background

At the Tenth Annual Conference of the European Society of Criminology (ESC) held at Liege, the Executive Committee agreed to accept a proposal to create a new Working Group on Sentencing & Penal Decision-Making. The proposal arose from two recent small European symposia held at the University of Strathclyde (2008); University of Leiden (2010); and a stream of five pre-arranged panel sessions (16 papers) organised for the 2010 ESC conference.

Aim

The aim of the Working Group is to bring together scholars working in the field of sentencing and penal decision-making (and others with a serious interest in academic work in that field) in order to: share research; ideas; and to encourage interest in the field across Europe. The Working Group seeks to foster discussion and fresh thinking; stimulate research; encourage theoretical development of the field; and critical as well as comparative European work. Specifically the proposed ESC Working Group on sentencing and penal decision-making is intended:

• To facilitate the collaboration and networking of scholars, policy officials and practitioners across Europe, including countries whose sentencing and penal decision-making processes are not well-known to international audiences
• To unlock the potential for cooperation among individuals and groups across Europe so that there is greater mutual knowledge and understanding of national sentencing systems and European-wide developments
• To provide a visible forum so that scholars, policy officials and practitioners can discuss research, develop ideas, and disseminate knowledge to each other and also those in the policy and/or practice communities who might not otherwise be aware of that research (e.g. through the ESC web-presence; annual symposia; visiting fellowships; etc)

Ambit of ‘Sentencing and Penal Decision-Making’

Because of its comprehensive focus on sentencing as an exercise in decision-making, the Working Group’s remit extends well beyond those issues connected solely with the judicial selection of punishment. Many other decision-making processes which either affect or are affected by judicial sentencing practices are also of interest. So-called «back-door» decisions, such as the grant of remission, parole or other early release to sentenced prisoners, clearly fall within this category. But so also do other decisions, at earlier and later stages of the overall criminal process, including prosecution charging practices, plea decision-making and, where it exists, plea bargaining, which may have a significant impact on the sentence ultimately imposed.

An indicative areas of interest to the Working Group include, for example: influences in the sentencing decision process; the politics of sentencing and penal policy-making; judicial discretion; the use of non-executive penalties; judicial and penal cultures; victims and sentencing; public opinion, public attitudes and knowledge of sentencing and punishment; multi-disciplinary courts; sentencing reform structures; penal aims and justifications; (in)equality and punishment; consistency and disparity in sentencing and penal decision-making; legitimacy and decision-making; the role of new technologies; release from custody; plea-bargaining. However, it is stressed that these are indicative examples only and this list is not intended to be exhaustive.

In all of these areas the Working Group aims to bring comparative perspectives and a focus on changes in European law and policy, as well as theoretical rigour and search for fresh approaches.

Rationale for the Working Group

Although sentencing and penal decision-making is a long-established field which attracts numerous papers to ESC each year there is no Working Group dedicated to sentencing and penal-decision-making.

Developments at the levels of the Council of Europe and the European Union provide further impetus for the creation of the proposed Working Group. Throughout much of its history, the European Court of Human Rights did not deal very extensively with sentencing issues as such, apart from matters connected with life sentences. More recently, however, it has decided many cases involving the extent to which prison conditions in some member states comply with Article 3 of the Convention. Meanwhile, European Union institutions are becoming more closely involved in criminal law matters, particularly through the creation of framework decisions on judicial co-operation and mutual recognition of judicial decisions. States may now, for example, refuse to surrender a person under a European Arrest Warrant if, at the time of the proposed surrender, he or she is at risk of suffering a violation of his/her rights under Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights on account of prison conditions (or, presumably sentencing practices) in the requesting state. Here, then, we see the legislation and case law of the two major European institutions combining to have a potentially profound impact on the sentencing and custodial regimes of member states. Thus, the WG seeks to examine the legal, social and policy implications of these developments also.

Activities

The Working Group builds on the stream of five panels organised for Liege conference and continue to organise a stream of panels for the annual ESC conference. In addition, it is intended to organise regular symposia examining European sentencing and penal decision-making issues. The Working Group warmly welcomes new members, (some of whom may not otherwise become ESC members nor ESC conference delegates), including from countries where sentencing and penal decision-making scholarship does not have a high international profile. The Working Group will also seek to forge links with policy and practice communities in different countries and also at EU level. For instance, we actively seek to promote our activities to a range of policy and practice audiences, such as sentencing councils (eg that in England & Wales, and in Scotland); judicial studies organisations, etc.

Cooperation with the Community Sanctions Working Group

The Community Sanctions Group refers to some aspects of sentencing at its meetings in so far as it is pertinent to community sanctions. To the extent that there are some areas of common interest, the two Working Groups have agreed to cooperate. The Chair of the CS Working Group is also a member of the Sentencing and Penal Decision-Making Working Group, and the Chair of the Sentencing & Penal Decision-Making WG is also a member of the CS Working Group. Similar cooperation will be sought with other Working Groups where appropriate.

Membership

Membership is open to anyone with a scholarly interest in European aspects of sentencing and penal decision-making. This includes those who are not active academic researchers themselves but have a strong interest in such research (e.g. policy officials, NGOs, criminal justice practitioners). We also warmly welcome the interest of early career researchers (eg PhD students) and other post-graduate students. We are also particularly interested in contact with individuals from national jurisdictions whose sentencing and penal decision-making is less well known internationally.

If you are interested in joining the WG please contact the WG Chair (Dr. Cyrus Tata). Cyrus.Tata @ strath.ac.uk

Initial Members:

The following list of individuals is mainly composed of those participating in the sentencing ‘stream’ of pre-arranged panels for the 2010 ESC conference, and others who others who have requested to join at September 2010.

Cyrus Tata, University of Strathclyde, Scotland (Chair of the WG)

Kristel Beyens, Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Belgium Miranda Boone, University of Utrecht, Netherlands
Andreia de Castro-Rodrigues, Universidade Fernando Pessoa, Porto, Portugal
Ioan Durnescu, University of Bucharest, Romania
Hank Elffers, Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime & Law Enforcement
Les Humphreys, University of Lancaster, England & Wales
Jan de Keijser, University of Leiden, Netherlands
Elena Larrauri, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Spain
Miklos Levay, Etos Lorand University, and, Constitutional Court of the Republic of Hungary
Niamh Maguire, Waterford Institute of Technology, Republic of Ireland
Grazia Mannozzi, University of Insubria, Como, Italy
Christine Morgenstern, University of Griefswald, Germany
Julian Roberts, University of Oxford, England & Wales

https://www.strath.ac.uk/humanities/lawschool/centreforlawcrimeandjustice/ourresearchandknowledgeexchange/europeangrouponsentencingandpenaldecision-making/

Co-Chairs

José Luis Díez-Ripollés  (ripolles @ uma.es)  and Jose Becerra ( josebecerra @ uma.es) University of Malaga, Spain

Aims

The Group aims to build a scientific debate forum in which cross-national experiences and information are gathered on how criminal legislative decisions are taken and how they could be improved.

Despite legislator’s legitimacy to pass criminal laws, studying the many phases through with drafts and decisions pass through, the actors involved, and the scientific information taken into consideration is crucial to be able to demand higher quality in law-making decisions.

In such endeavour, empirical research as well as theoretical development is highly needed. An inter-disciplinary approach which makes sure the cooperation among criminologists, legal experts, political scientists, psychologists, sociologists, public administration, and management experts, etc. seems unavoidable.

Fields of interest

Criminal lawmaking studies interests go far beyond the law itself. It is mandatory to take into account that a great amount of clues to understand Criminal Policy hide behind the complexity of political decision making in contemporary societies and that makes this field of knowledge socially useful and scientifically attractive.

List of topics:

1) Transverse matters:

1. The discussion about the concept of legislative rationality and its description in Criminal Law.
2. The content of the principles that lead to and set limits to Criminal Law and Criminal Policy.

2) International law-making policy:

1. Compared analysis of political and legal systems of lawmaking.
2. Criminal law making in international organizations.
3. Role or influence of international organizations in national criminal reforms.

3) Pre-legislative, pre-parliamentary or governmental stage:

• Regulatory analysis (applicable rules, protocols, or proceedings).
• Actors analysis:

1. Gouvernement.
2. Political parties.
3. Lobbies .
4. Media.
5. Public opinion.
6. Experts.
7.  Other formal or informal actors that participate in the stage.

4) Legislative or parliamentary phase:

• Regulatory analysis (applicable rules, protocols, or proceedings).
• Actors analysis:

1. Legislative chambers and their bodies.
2. Gouvernement.
3. Political parties.
4. Lobbies .
5. Media.
6. Public opinion.
7. Experts.
8.  Other formal or informal actors that participate in the stage.

5) Implementation stage:

1. Resources issues (material or personal).
2. Internal communication systems between actors.
3. Implementation control tools.
4. Partial, temporary, or pilot implementation cases.

6) Evaluation stages:

1. Evaluation of design.
2. Implementation evaluation.
3. Results evaluation.
4. Impact evaluation.
5. Different perspectives in evaluation: economic, social, legal evaluation (or other).

It is worth of taking into account how the study of all these issues benefits from the comparative perspective, inherent to ESC Working Groups. The experience and information brought in by Criminal Law-Making Group members ensure the best possible scenario to engage in the development of scientifically founded recommendations for public authorities working in the criminal law-making process.

As has been said, the need of an interdisciplinary approach is urgent to go beyond the legal approach which, though needed, greatly benefits from other social sciences´ perspectives.

Current members

• Ayling, Julie (Julie.ayling @ anu.edu.au)
• Bárd, Petra (bard @ okri.hu)
• Becerra, José (josebecerra @ uma.es)
• Brandariz, Jose Angel (jabrandariz @ yahoo.de)
• Cepas, Algimantas (algimantas.cepas @ vilias.lt, cepas.algimantas @ gmail.com)
• Díez-Ripollés, José Luis (ripolles @ uma.es)
• Dünkel, Frieder (duenkel @ uni-greifswald.de)
• Faraldo-Cabana, Patricia (yrinas @ udc.es)
• Gálvez-Bermudez, Carlos (cgalvez90 @ hotmail.com)
• García-Ruiz, Ascensión (ascensiongarcia @ ucm.es)
• Hack, Peter (hpeter @ ajk.elte.hu)
• Hamilton, Claire (Claire.Hamilton @ mu.ie)
• Király, Eszter (kiralyeszti @ gmail.com)
• Lappi-Seppälä, Tapio (tapio.lappi-seppala @ helsinki.fi)
• Larrauri Pijoan, Elena (elena.larrauri @ upf.edu)
• Levay, Miklós (levaym @ ajk.elte.hu)
• Marteache, Nerea (nmarte @ csusb.edu)
• Martínez Francisco, Nieves (nievcaco @ gmail.com)
• Osorio, Frank (director @ frankosorio.me)
• Persak, Nina (nina.persak @ ugent.be)
• Raduly, Zsuzsa (radulyzsuzsa @ freemail.hu)
• Rando Casermeiro, Pablo (pablorando @ us.es)
• Reyes-Reyes, Magda Stella (magtol @ gmail.com)
• Róth, Erika (jogerika @ uni-miskolc.hu)
• Sárik, Eszter (sarik @ okri.hu)
• Sodini, Daniela (dsodini @ hotmail.com)
• Tonry, Michael (tonry001 @ umn.edu)
• Viveiros, Carlos Domenico (cdviveiros @ hotmail.com)
• Vélez Rodriguez, Luis (lvelezr @ umanizales.edu.co)
• Rossetto, Patricia (patirossetto @ gmail.com)
• Corral Maraver, Noelia (noeliamaraver @ der.uned.es)
• Goeckenjan, Igneke (Ingke.Goeckenjan @ ruhr-uni-bochum.de)
• Zimmermann, Frank (frank.zimmermann @ uni-muenster.de )
• Stavros, Demetriou (s.demetriou @ sussex.ac.uk)
• Lampe, Dirk (dlampe @ uni-bremen.de)
• Garcia Magna, Deborah (dgmagna @ uma.es)
• Prado, Berta (bprado @ uma.es)
• González Guarda, Claudio (cjgonzalezg @ gmail.com)
• Sanz Mulas, Nieves (ixmucane @ usal.es)
• Masiero, Clara (claramasiero @ mail.com)
• Chiavelli Facenda, Falavigno (chiavelli.falavigno @ gmail.com )
• Foffani, Luigi (luigi.foffani @ unimore.it)
• Donini, Massimo (avv.massimo.donini @ gmail.com)
• Fanega Guijarro, Manuel (manuelfanega @ uoc.edu)
• Fernández Alvarez, Jacobo (jacobo.fernandez @ mjusticia.es)
• Lankauskas, Mindaugas (mindaugas.lankauskas @ teise.org)
• Gorjon Barranco, María Concepción (mcgb @ usal.es)
• Cáceres, Emiro (emirocaceres17 @ gmail.com)
• Paoli, Letizia (letizia.paoli @ kuleuven.be)
• Visschers, Jonas (jonas.visschers @ kuleuven.be )
• Gray, Emily (E.Gray @ derby.ac.uk)
• Annison, Harry (H.Annison @ soton.ac.uk)
• Iñigo Ortiz de Urbina Gimeno (inigo.ortizdeurbina @ upf.edu)
• Jakub Drápal (drapalja @ prf.cuni.cz), CV https://sites.google.com/view/jakub-drapal
• Lorenzo Pasculli (l.pasculli @ ucl.ac.uk), CV http://iris.ucl.ac.uk/iris/browse/profile?upi=LPASC27

Latest collective publications:

Besides our individual member´s publications, here are the ones promoted by the Group:

• Becerra Muñoz, J. (editor). Criminal Law-Making: Theory and Practice. Springer, 2021. https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-71348-5
• A special issue in the Brazilian Journal of Criminal Sciences.
• Díez Ripollés, J L & Becerra Muñoz, J.“New ESC Working Group on Criminal Law Making Policy”. Newsletter of the European Society of Criminology. “Criminology in Europe”.http://www.escnewsletter.org/node/234
• Díez Ripollés, J L & Becerra Muñoz, J.“Criminal Law Making Policy: when Lawyers need Criminologists (and vice versa?)”. Newsletter of the European Society of Criminology. “Criminology in Europe”. 2016. 2. Vol. 15.http://escnewsletter.org/newsletter/2016-2/criminal-law-making-policy-when-lawyers-need-criminologists-and-vice-versaf

Themed panel sessions:

The Group frequently organizes panel sessions in the conferences of our Society. We warmly invite all interested researchers to propose panel topics.

We also organize group meetings during the ESC Annual Conference to talk about new ideas and projects. Feel free to stop by!

Our past panel sessions:

Eurocrim2021 Online:

• Driving forces influencing the criminal law-making Process
• Punitive and Security Populism in Europe: Current Trends in Criminal Law-Making Policy

Eurocrim2019 Ghent:

• Nexo Project: evidence and law decision-making.

Eurocrim2016 Münster:

• Studying how Criminal Legislation is made. Approaches and Methodologies.

Eurocrim2015 Porto:

• How open and transparent should criminal law-making processes be?
• What should law makers think of first? Evaluating criminal policy making through standards.

Eurocrim2014 Prague:

• Achieving a better understanding of criminal law-making processes.
• Influences and rationality of criminality related legal reforms.

Eurocrim2013 Budapest: Our first meeting.

We are also working in Spanish!

Feel free to join us in our Spanish Criminal LawMaking Policy Working Group.

And find us in our Spanish Twitter account @GEPLP_ES.

Thinking about promoting your own national Law-Making Policy Working Group?

Contact us and we will give you a hand.

Inquiries, proposals, questions?

Do not hesitate to contact us through josebecerra@uma.es or politicalegislativapenal@uma.es

Chair: Alex Stevens (a.w.stevens @ kent.ac.uk)

Plans for 2014/15

Aim

To develop the field of drug policy research, with a particular focus on research on the creation and effect of supra-national, national and local policies in Europe.

Membership

Any member of both the International Society of the Study or Drug Policy and the European Society of Criminology who wishes to participate.

People who are members of only one or neither of these Societies would be welcome to participate in some of the activities of the group (e.g. meetings at conferences), but could not be a formal member of the group.

Potential working methods (for discussion)

• Dissemination of research findings at ISSDP and ESC conferences, through panel sessions and workshops.
• Joint publications by members. These could include:
  1. Special issues of journals (e.g. European Journal of Criminology, International Journal of Drug Policy.)
  2. Edited collections.
  3. Jointly authored reports and books.
• Development of new studies and research projects, through:
  1. Sharing data and methods
  2. New research funding proposals (including to the European Commission).

First steps

Setting up a panel each of the conferences of the ESC and ISSDP in 2014.

• A panel on ‘problems and advances in international, comparative drug policy research’ was held at the ISSDP conference in March 2014.
• ESC is hosting plenary session on drug policy at the 2014 conference.
• A join ESC/ISDP, ‘Beyond the Criminalisation of Drug Use’, is being held at the ESC conference in September 2015.
• We will host an ESC/ISSDP panel on European drug policy at the 2015 conference of the ISSDO in 2015 (Ghent, 20-22 May 2015).
• Future activities to be discussed at the ESC and ISSSP in 2014/15.

For more information:

Alex Stevens, University of Kent: a.w.stevens @ kent.ac.uk

Chair: Rutger Leukfeldt (rleukfeldt @ nscr.nl) –  Tamar Berenblum (tamar.berenblum @ mail.huji.ac.il)

Description

The European Society of Criminology Working Group on Cybercrime is geared to the various aspects of cybercrime, including but not limited to: different forms that cybercrime can take (e.g., hacking, fraud, malicious software infections, sexting, cyber terrorism, etc.), its causes and offenders, impact on victims, and our response to it at the individual, corporate, and governmental levels

Origins

At the 2016 annual meetings of the European Society of Criminology in Muenster, Germany, there were at least twenty-six (26) presentations examining topics that all fell under the term “cyber” (the word cyber appeared somewhere in the title or abstract), including but not limited to computer hacking, phishing, online fraud, cyber war, organized cybercrime, cyber espionage, cyber bullying, sexting, online sexual abuse the overlap between cyber and traditional offending, and UK constables’ perceptions of cybercrime. There were likely other presentations involving the impact of ICT on either offending, victimization, or public policy, though they did not use that key term in the title or abstract. There also appeared to be twenty-six (26) presentations that contained the term ‘cyber’ in their title or abstract at the 2015 ESC meetings held in Porto, Portugal. These trends in presentations demonstrate the strong interest in cyber within the field of criminology, and suggest that the number of cyber presentations will continue to grow as our reliance on technology grows. Similar trends can be observed in other academic conferences such as the American Society of Criminology, as well as the increasing number of unique conferences focusing solely on cybercrime around the world.

Aims and objectives

The primary goals of the European Society of Criminology Working Group on Cybercrime are:

• Advancing knowledge and research on cybercrime and cybersecurity across Europe (both substantively and methodologically) and other parts of the world, including the United States, the Middle East, and Asia, with plans to expand to other parts of the world.
• Creating a network for information exchange and international collaboration between leading scholars, starting scholars, graduate students, government agencies, and private organizations involved in cybercrime research.

These goals are reached through the following tasks:

• Holding regular meetings of core members
• Coordinating “Cybercrime” sessions at ESC annual meetings
• Initiating and coordinating special issues on cybercrime in the European Journal of Criminology
• Establishing cross-national research ties and promote international collaboration
• Organizing European conferences on cybercrime
• Dissemination of scholarly publications

We recognize and fully support the diversity of interests within the field of cybercrime and cybersecurity. The working group will encourage all scholars interested in cybercrime to join, regardless of their focus on the causes of cybercrime criminality, the impact of victimization, or the regulations and enforcement to address it. In addition, the working group is interested in bringing scholars together who have different interdisciplinary backgrounds, including but not limited to: criminal justice and criminology, law, sociology, political science, economics, information technology, and computer science. We will not restrict the working group to any specific methodology as scholars study cybercrime through both qualitative and quantitative means and in fact we hope that our working group will encourage the advancement of innovative data collection and analytic techniques in our field. As our field grows, it is our hope that the working group will help international collaborations integrate our knowledge that derives from different methodologies rather than qualitative and quantitative scholars traveling down separate paths.

In addition to academic scholars, the working group will also recruit government agencies, particularly law enforcement agencies and government research offices, to join the working group in order to increase data collection, expertise to the working group, and dissemination possibilities (i.e. getting our research into the hands of policy makers and legislative bodies). Over the last several years, scholars have engaged in direct productive partnerships with, among others, the UK Home Office, the Scientific Research and Documentation Centre (WODC) of the Dutch Ministry of Security and Justice, and the High Tech Crime Units of the Dutch police and prosecutors office.

Chair

Rutger Leukfeldt, Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law, the Netherlands (chair) rleukfeldt @ nscr.nl

Tamar Berenblum, The Hebrew University, Israel (co-chair), tamar.berenblum @ mail.huji.ac.il

Board

Marleen Weulen Kranenbarg, Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law, the Netherlands

Michael Levi, Cardiff University, UK

Michael McGuire, University of Surrey, UK

Fernando Miro Llinares, Universidad Miguel Hernández de Elche, Crimina, Spain

Thomas Holt, Michigan State University, US

Becoming a member

If you are a member of the Working Group on Cybercrime, we invite you to join our working group. In order to join, please send your name, position, affiliation, and a short description of the research project you are working on to tamar.berenblum @ mail.huji.ac.il

Chair: Elina van ’t Zand-Kurtovic  (e.g.van.t.zand @ law.leidenuniv.nl) &  Alessandro Corda (A.Corda @ qub.ac.uk)

Theme

After punishment has been served in full, individuals re-entering society encounter additional legal and social barriers and disabilities that exist because of their conviction. Significant hurdles are often faced also by people who have never been found guilty of a criminal offence: Arrest records and even acquittals can indeed prove highly consequential for persons who have interacted with the criminal justice system. Such ramifications have come to be known as collateral consequences of a criminal record. The extent and reach of Collateral Consequences of Criminal Records (CCCR) is a topic that is increasingly beginning to be studied among criminologists and criminal justice scholars across Europe. Collateral consequences can be defined as restrictions that limit ex-offenders in exercising their full rights as members of the community, re-joining the work force and taking full advantage of economic benefits and other opportunities.

As mentioned, collateral consequences can follow upon release from prison, discharge from parole or probation, or for the mere fact of having a non-conviction criminal history record on file. These consequences are often referred to as ‘invisible’ or ‘hidden’ punishment since, although not part of the sentencing decision (and therefore historically significantly overlooked by criminological research in Europe), they follow upon the creation of the record and its accessibility and disclosure at different levels and across different platforms. Collateral consequences can be either formal (or de jure) ― i.e., measures provided for by law ― and informal (or de facto) ― especially social stigma and various forms of discrimination imposed discretionarily by private actors such as landlords or employers.

Restrictions arising from having a criminal record apply to the whole realm of social life, including:

• Employment
• Professional and occupational licensing
• Immigrant status
• Access to education
• Access to housing
• Parental rights
• Voting rights
• Eligibility to receive welfare benefits, grants and loans
• Ability to run for office
• Ability to volunteer
• Ability to obtain a firearm license
• Everyday social interactions in informal settings

Research on the prevalence and effects of CCCR is still largely absent in the context of European criminological research, especially with regard to non-conviction records. With specific reference to conviction records, it is often assumed that excluding individuals with a criminal history from exercising their full rights and accessing employment and other opportunities increases public safety. However, there is growing evidence suggesting that public safety is best served by imposing as few obstacles as possible to ex-offenders’ re-entry process into society.

The topic of CCCR provides a very interesting arena for comparative and cross-national research. To start with, it should be analysed how the supranational European dimension – i.e., the European Union and the Council of Europe – permeates the area of collateral consequences. Next, since the consequences of having a criminal record largely differ between common law and civil law countries, as well as across continental European jurisdictions, it is of great importance to study and compare the different regimes with regard to both their impact on individuals and their effectiveness in pursuing state goals and functions.

The aim of the Working Group is to bring together researchers from different jurisdictions and increase research on and knowledge of the collateral consequences of criminal records within the European context and beyond. Researchers interested in exploring this under-researched field are warmly invited to join the Working Group, share their expertise and help develop a research network in this fascinating and important subject area.

Aim

To stimulate research and share of knowledge in the field of Collateral Consequences of Criminal Records.

Objectives

Stemming from this overarching aim, the Working Group on Collateral Consequences of Criminal Records has the following objectives:

• To promote critical and comparative work on collateral consequences in European jurisdictions and beyond;
• To promote and facilitate national and international collaboration among researchers in the field, including funding bids;
• To foster discussion and develop new theoretical and empirical research on collateral consequences;
• To encourage networking between researchers interested in this topic;
• To promote the international dissemination of research outcomes;
• To identify mutual interests and develop collaborations with other ESC Working Groups (for example, Sentencing & Penal Decision-Making and Community Sanctions).

Activities

• Organisation and co-ordination of thematic panels at the ESC annual meetings;
• Organisation of Working Group meetings at the annual ESC meetings;
• Organisation of an ongoing Works-in-Progress seminar series to provide feedback on current research projects and draft papers of WG members;
• Promotion of research collaborations between Working Group members.

Membership

The working group’s activities are coordinated by Elina van ‘t Zand-Kurtovic and Alessandro Corda. All ESC-members interested in this research field are invited to join the group. To do so, please send your name, position, affiliation, and a brief description of the research projects you are working on to e.g.van.t.zand @ law.leidenuniv.nl.

Members

1. Harry Annison – University of Southampton, United Kingdom, Annison @ soton.ac.uk
2. Caroline Bald – University of Essex, bald @ essex.ac.uk
3. Miranda Boone – Leiden University, the Netherlands, m.boone @ law.leidenuniv.nl
4. Charlotte Brooks – University of Nottingham, United Kingdom lqxcb7 @ nottingham.ac.uk
5. Nicola Carr – University of Nottingham, United Kingdom, Carr @ nottingham.ac.uk
6. Nicola Collett – De Montfort University, United Kingdom, collett @ dmu.ac.uk
7. Mary Corcoran – Keele University, United Kingdom, corcoran @ keele.ac.uk
8. Alessandro Corda – Queen’s University Belfast, United Kingdom, Corda @ qub.ac.uk
9. Stavros Demetriou – University of Sussex, United Kingdom, Demetriou @ sussex.ac.uk
10. Allen George – University of Sydney, Australia, george @ sydney.edu.au
11. Paul Hamilton – Nottingham Trent University, United Kingdom, hamilton @ ntu.ac.uk
12. Andrew Henley – University of Nottingham, United Kingdom, Henley @ nottingham.ac.uk
13. Katerina Hadjimatheou – University of Sussex, United Kingdom, hadjimatheou @ essex.ac.uk
14. Theresia Höynck – Universität Kassel, Germany, hoeynck @ uni-kassel.de
15. Elena Larrauri – Pompeu Fabra University, Spain, larrauri @ upf.edu
16. Ailbhe O’Loughlin – University of York, United Kingdom, oloughlin @ york.ac.uk
17. Sonja Meijer – Free University Amsterdam, the Netherlands, meijer @ vu.nl
18. Marti Rovira – University of Oxford, United Kingdom, rovira @ sociology.ox.ac.uk
19. Alejandro Rubio Arnal – University of Glasgow, United Kingdom, rubio.arnal @ gmail.com
20. Kirsty Teague – Nottingham Trent University, United Kingdom, teague @ ntu.ac.uk
21. Milena Tripkovic – University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom, tripkovic @ ed.ac.uk
22. David Vig – Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) & Amnesty International Hungary, vigdavid @ gmail.com
23. Elina van ‘t Zand-Kurtovic – Leiden University, the Netherlands, g.van.t.zand @ law.leidenuniv.nl
24. Anne-Marie Day – University of Keele, United Kingdom, a.day @ keele.ac.uk
25. Katharina Swirak – University College Cork, Ireland,k.swirak @ ucc.ie
26. Gustavo A. Beade – Universidad Austral de Chile, Chile, gustavo.beade @ uach.cl
27. Alice Mills – University of Auckland, New Zealand, a.mills @ auckland.ac.nz

Follow us on Twitter:   @CCCR_WG

Contact information

Dr. Elina van ‘t Zand-Kurtovic, Assistant Professor, Leiden University, Department of Criminology, Steenschuur 25 2311 ES Leiden, the Netherlands, E-mail: e.g.van.t.zand @ law.leidenuniv.nl

Dr. Alessandro Corda, Senior Lecturer in Criminal Law and Criminal Justice; Director, Institute of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Queen’s University Belfast School of Law, Belfast, BT7 1NN, United Kingdom, E-mail: A.Corda @ qub.ac.uk

Chair: Kerry Clamp and Estelle Zinsstag

Origins

Restorative justice is a burgeoning field of study and practice. The field of restorative justice, given its applied character, is interdisciplinary and brings together people from different professional backgrounds, be it as researchers, practitioners or policy-makers. Restorative justice is consequently increasingly discussed during the ESC conference on a variety of topic areas. However, we feel that it does not have enough visibility and therefore lacks recognition at a European level as a field of study in its own right. Indeed, we feel that researchers interested in RJ lack a collective forum to discuss their research with their peers and their voices remain weak among the totality of the scholars because they are dispersed. It is for this reason that we have established this working group and we would like to invite ESC members involved or interested in research on restorative justice to join the working group to foster dissemination and collaboration. $

Aim

The aims of the working group are to:

• Bring together researchers working on restorative justice and creating an international and intergenerational network; and

• Facilitate research agendas and collaboration on restorative justice projects (such as seminars, summer schools, publications and funded research projects) and maximising the international dissemination of research results.

Objectives

A number of specific objectives to realise these aims include:

• Promoting communication between restorative justice researchers;

• Organising thematic restorative justice sessions at the annual ESC meetings;

• Establishing cross-national research networks and promote international collaboration on restorative justice research; and

• Offering a ‘best European paper’ award for outstanding research in the restorative justice field.

Membership

The working group is chaired and its activities coordinated by Kerry Clamp and Estelle Zinsstag.

All ESC-members involved or interested in RJ related research are invited to join. Therefore, if you are a member of the ESC and would like to join, please send an email stating your name, position, affiliation, and a short introduction to your work to both of us at Kerry.Clamp @ nottingham.ac.uk and estelle.zinsstag @ kuleuven.be

Contact address

Dr Kerry Clamp
University of Nottingham
School of Sociology and Social Policy
Law and Social Sciences Building
University Park
Nottingham NG7 2RD
Kerry.Clamp @ nottingham.ac.uk

Dr Estelle Zinsstag
Leuven Institute of Criminology
University of Leuven (KU Leuven)
Herbert Hooverplein 10
3000 Leuven, Belgium
estelle.zinsstag @ kuleuven.be

About the Working Group 

This annual conference provides a perfect opportunity to the members of the Research Group “Social Prerequisites for the Effective Fight Against Bias-Motivated Crimes Through Criminal Law and Minority Rights Protection” (SPECTRA)  to establish a specific ESC Working Group dealing specifically with hate crimes.

The ESC Working Group on Hate Crimes

• explores the different state responses to hate crimes in the various jurisdictions represented in the Working Group enabling a comparative analysis;

• explore the case-law with regard to hate crimes, and the difficulties that arise when enforcing hate crime legislation;
• try to explore the reasons behind the discrepancy between official statistical data related to hate crimes and victimization data from surveys conducted amongst potential victims in various countries;
• search for good practices in drafting hate crime laws and also in applying the respective legal provisions.Activities 
• Continuous information and knowledge sharing among the members of the Working Group on the most important developments in relation to hate crimes, whether it be relevant legislation, judicial decisions, academic publications or research reports, data and statistics, or any other relevant on-line or off-line materials

• Facilitating communication between European researchers on hate crimes
• Stimulating permanent discussion on hate crimes in order to keep the issue on the agenda, influencing the decisions of stakeholders via professional publications, credible and reliable scientific research and professional contribution to the European and national decision-making processes
• Exchanging experience with empirical research in the field of hate crimes; determining potential future research projects and research directions, developing collaborative opportunities to establish research teams and working closely with the members to better use of existing synergies
• Continuous publication and dissemination activity
• Organizing thematic workshops and sessions during the annual ESC conferences and beyond

More information: here

Eötvös Loránd University / Faculty of Law / Department of Criminology
H-1053 Budapest, Egyetem tér 1- 3., Hungary / +36 1 411 6521 ext. 2748

lendulet.hatecrimes @ gmail.com

Origins:

Rural criminology is an exciting and expanding research area in criminology. With over 40 per cent of the world’s population living in rural settings, it offers challenges and problems which in their nature are distinct from the issues faced by urban dwellers.

While the common perception of the countryside could be summarised as a rural idyll in fact members of rural services are facing many problems, often invisible for people coming from urban areas. Problems such as rural isolation, lack of services or spatial injustice are often an everyday reality of living in rural communities. Despite officially recorded crimes remaining low in the countryside, there is an issue to what extent those figures are representative due to lower levels of crime reporting. In addition, rural dwellers experience fear of crime levels similar to urban counterparts.

These, among other issues, make rural criminology research an important and relevant contribution to general criminological knowledge. Researchers working in that area should have an impact on the policy and be informative for the policymakers. This shall help to make the most beneficial decision for rural dwellers especially in terms of crime prevention or security.

In order to stimulate rural research in Europe and to promote contact between the various European researchers working in the area of rural criminology, we have established the European Rural Criminology [ERC] working group. Hence, we would like to invite all the ESC members interested and involved in any research having a focus on rural dwellers, crime or security issues in the countryside to combine their expertise and to join this working group.

Aim: To facilitate research in the area of rural criminology in Europe and maximize international dissemination of findings coming from the research of crime in the countryside.

Objectives:

• unite European scholars interested in rural criminology
• promote communication between European researchers working in the area of rural criminology
• organise thematic rural sessions at the annual ESC meetings
• allow for the sharing of cutting-edge research
• establish cross-national research ties and promote international collaboration on rural criminology

Membership:

The working group is chaired by and its activities are coordinated by Kreseda Smith and Artur Pytlarz. All ESC-members interested and working in the area of rural criminology or crime in the countryside issues, in general, are invited to join. If you would like to join please send your contact details to Kreseda Smith (kresedasmith @ harper-adams.ac.uk) or Artur Pytlarz (artur.pytlarz @ gmail.com).

Chairs: Dr Elanie Rodermond and Dr Mark Littler

Origins and aims

Recent acts of terrorism and their direct and indirect impact on victims and societies have made the prevention of terrorism and violent extremism a priority in many European countries. The threat posed by Jihadi Islamist groups has combined with the threat posed by ongoing nationalist conflicts and the renewed strength of far-right groups to create a risk profile that is both highly complex and rapidly evolving. Policy makers and practitioners within our criminal justice systems have been forced to wrestle with the complexities of terrorist identification, punishment, and rehabilitation, while our judicial systems have struggled to balance the public’s right to protection from political violence with established norms surrounding social and political rights.

Against this backdrop, there is a need for scholarship that addresses these topics using criminological theories and research methods. To this end, this working group has been constituted with the following aims:

• To promote communication between European scholars studying radicalization, extremism and terrorism;
• To organize thematic sessions during the annual meeting of the European Society of Criminology;
• To arrange regular meetings between core members of the working group;
• To establish a cross-national research network;
• Wherever possible, to foster collaborative work on European grant proposals, edited volumes and special issues.

Membership

Membership is open to all ESC members with an interest in radicalization, extremism, terrorism, and/or political violence.

Chairs

The activities of the group are coordinated by its co-chairs, Dr Elanie Rodermond and Dr Mark Littler.

e.rodermond @ vu.nl

m.a.littler @ gre.ac.uk