European Society of Criminology
The Society has established twelve working groups:
Thematic working group on juvenile justice (Chair:
Josine Junger-Tas) jungertas@xs4all.nl
The first meeting of this working
group took place at the Conference of the European
Society of Criminology in Helsinki in August, 2003.
is working group took place at the
Conference of the European Society of Criminology
in Helsinki in August, 2003.
The reports produced by the members of this group
led to the publication in 2006 of an International
Handbook of Juvenile Justice edited by Josine Junger-Tas
and Scott H. Decker (published by Springer). You will
find below the preface of the book as well as the
first two pages of each chapter.
The group invites national Juvenile
justice experts to present papers on the situation
in their own countries, answering if possible the
following four essential questions:
- What are the main policies in your country
in terms of the prevention of crime, the treatment
of young offenders, and the respect of children’s
and young people’s procedural and individual rights?
- Have there been in the last 15–20 years any
specific trends in these policies?
- What is known about the practical outcomes
of the present policies, both concerning the effective
reduction of delinquency and the respect of children’s
rights?
- Does your country have policies as well as
evidence based programmes to make prevention
and interventions more effective and individual
rights better respected?
Juvenile justice experts willing to make a contribution
to the working group, please contact Jungertas@xs4all.nl.
International Handbook of Juvenile Justice (Josine
Junger-Tas and Scott H. Decker, Eds., Dordrecht: Springer,
2006)
If you want more information on this book, please
visit:
http://www.springer.com/east/home/generic/search/results?
SGWID=5-40109-22-107951447-0
ESC members with research interests in quantitative
criminology are invited to join the newly formed European
Quantitative Criminology (EQC) working group.
Apart from defining a pool of European criminologists
with quantitative orientation and promoting communication
among them, the EQC working group's shape and objectives
are open for discussion. Possible functions include
organizing quantitative criminology or research methods
panel sessions at ESC conferences or holding one-day
EQC workshops, establishing cross-national quantitative
criminology research ties to aid in competing for
European Commission funds, offering a student award
for the best quantitative paper submitted to the ESC
meetings, and drafting guidelines for quantitative
research methods courses, etc.
If you would like to join, please send your name,
position, affiliation, and (optional) quantitative
research specialization/expertise to andromachi.tseloni@ntu.ac.uk.
Your views and suggestions for short and longer-term
functions of the EQC group are greatly welcome. Please
include the group's abbreviation, 'EQC', in the subject
field of your e-mail message.
ESC European University Curriculum Working Group
(Chair: Gorazd Meško) gorazd.mesko@fvv.uni-mb.si
The purpose of the working group is to foster high
quality European university programmes in criminology
as well as innovative teaching in this area.
The basic idea is to find a consensus on the substance
and processes of teaching (census, standards) while
"the challenges" concentrate on the results
of teaching (communication with policy and public).
Both aspects seem very important. However I would
suggest formulating something like goals of the working
group to initiate a discourse and to seek consensus/understanding
each other on issues of substance of teaching (place
for critical criminology, analysis of on-going processes
in politics and public), teaching process (innovation,
transfer of knowledge, mobility), and the results
of teaching (public and professional awareness, influence
over decision making processes). In some countries,
a very important issue is raising of understanding
of public and private sectors for which criminological
knowledge is important and useful, it is also important
to start a discussion on labour market for criminologists.
Due to a greater transferability of knowledge, mobility
and exchange of academicians in the field of criminology
plans of the working group for the period 2006-2009
are learning about programmes in criminology, criminal
justice, crime prevention and community safety, victimology,
etc.; obtaining research grants for creation of a
European Higher Education Directory consisting under
and post-graduate programmes in the mentioned areas,
institutions and professors (teachers) of criminology.
Everyone who is willing to participate in developing
the quality of teaching and contributing to the development
of standards of criminological programmes in Europe
is very welcome.
Members:
Erich Marks
Algimantas Cepas
Aleksandras Dobryninas
Chris Eskridge
Gorazd Meško
New members welcome!
Do not hesitate to contact me at gorazd.mesko@fvv.uni-mb.si
Crime, Science and Politics Working Group (formerly
EUGPSRN) (Chair: Adam Edwards)
edwardsa2@cardiff.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, Adam Edwards, at EDWARDSA2@cf.ac.uk,
for further details of the working group's activities.
European Society of Criminology
Postgraduate and Early Stage Researchers Working Group
(EPER) (j.waters@shu.ac.uk
- vice-Chair: Michael
Vishnevetsky)
Origins and Progress to Date
The initial meeting of the European Postgraduate
Researchers Group took place at the European Society
of Criminology (ESC) Conference in Tubingen. The ESC,
the Centre for Criminological Research, University
of Sheffield, and the Scottish Centre for Crime and
Justice Research, University of Glasgow support the
Working Group. The Working Group is primarily aimed
at doctoral and post-doctoral researchers in the early
stages of their career (up to 7 years research experience).
The Group provides the opportunity for members to
present their research, and provides information on
publishing work, pursuing academic/research careers,
applying for research funding and working collaboratively.
It is an interdisciplinary group, with members from
various departments from across Europe who are involved
in criminological research, for example law and sociological
studies.
The second annual meeting of the EPER Working Group
took place in Bologna, 2007, and the third took place
in September 2008 at the European Society of Criminology
conference at the University of Edinburgh, held at
Murrayfield Stadium. At the meeting, the co-ordinating
committee for the group was finalised (see below).
The fourth annual EPER meeting took place in Slovenia
in 2009. For this meeting, three fellowships were
available for members based in Eastern European jurisdictions
to come to the meeting and present papers on their
research.
Aim
The aim of the Working Group is to provide a forum
to discuss, develop and collaborate on new and innovative
criminal justice research with other early stage researchers
and lead/senior academics on a European level.
Objectives
- Promote the dissemination of information on the
research projects undertaken and the methodologies
employed - by doctoral and post-doctoral researchers
across Europe who are in the early stages of their
careers.
- Establish a communication network between members
(e-mail distribution list, dedicated webpage, a
regular newsletter)
- Organize sessions at the annual ESC meetings
which provide for
° 1) the opportunity for early stage and
postgraduate researchers to present their work.
° 2) benefiting from the experience of Senior
Academics through sessions on 'Getting Published'
or 'Putting Together Research Proposals'.
- To consider further methods of providing tips,
advice, support and dissemination of current projects
for example through the web-site.
- Gathering support and promoting pan-European collaborations.
The website:
The website is currently being updated although
you can still access some details at www.sccjr.ac.uk/projects/European-Postgraduate-and-Early-Stage-Researchers-Working-Group/8
EPER Online Criminal Justice Database:
The working group committee was keen to initiate
some form of working project that would be of use
to our members. The Group decided to establish an
online database of information about the criminal
justice systems of each country represented in the
working group - the Criminology / CJS Fact Sheet project.
Members of the group are creating a brief overview
and critique of criminal justice procedures in their
own jurisdictions, including any current issues. A
pro-forma has been created to help members in this
task and to aid consistency across jurisdictions.
The plan is that this will eventually build into a
significant online source of information for all those
interested in criminal justice research.
5th Annual Meeting at the 2010 ESC Conference
in Belgium
The fifth annual meeting of the working group will
in September 2010 in Liege. As usual the meeting will
take place alongside the annual ESC conference. However,
this year the meeting will be held during the conference
itself and not on the registration day. At the meeting
we will be continuing our work on the online criminal
justice database and the website, as well as providing
an opportunity for members to present their research.
This is an open meeting and all ESC members are welcome
to attend. If you would like more information about
the meeting or would like to register your interest
in attending, please email Jaime Waters (J.Waters@shu.ac.uk).
The Working Group is currently coordinated by
the EPER Working Group Organising Committee
Jaime Waters Chair
(j.waters@sheffield.ac.uk)
Michael Vishnevsky Vice-Chair / Recruitment (East
Europe) (vishmish1@gmail.com)
Matthew Hall Communications/Newsletter (m.p.hall@sheffield.ac.uk)
Ryan Davenport Network Officer (r.davenport@sheffield.ac.uk)
Aiden Sidebottom Peer Review/Contacting Editors
(uctqasi@ucl.ac.uk)
Tanja Link Peer Review/Contacting Editors (tlink2@email.ukj.edu)
Matthew Bacon PhD Liaison
(lwp07mjb@sheffield.ac.uk)
Joanna Shapland Senior Academic Rep (Associate
Member)
(j.m.shapland@sheffield.ac.uk)
Michele Burman Senior Academic Rep (Associate Member)
(m.burman@lbss.gla.ac.uk)
Jenny Johnstone Senior Academic Rep (Associate
Member) (j.k.johnstone@ncl.ac.uk)
Membership
Members
Members
are doctoral and post-doctoral researchers in the
early stages of their career (up to 7 years research
experience).
Associate Members
Associate members will be Senior Academics who have
experience of leading research projects and who would
like to offer their support to the Group. Professor
Joanna Shapland, Professor Michele Burman, and Jenny
Johnstone are currently Associate Members of the Group.
Joining the group
All ESC-members who would like to be part of this
group, either as Members or Associate Members are
invited to join. Please contact either Lisa Burns
at the The Centre for Criminological Research, University
of Sheffield, Crookesmoor Building, Conduit Road,
Sheffield, S10 1FL UK. E-mail: l.k.burns@sheffield.ac.uk
Phone: +44 (0)114 222 6859 Jaime Waters, E-mail:
j.waters@shu.ac.uk
Please
feel free to contact any of us with questions or ideas
for taking the group forward.
European Development and Life-course Criminology
(EDLC) (Chair: Arjan Blokland & Paul Nieuwbeerta)
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 .
Contact address
Dr. mr. A.A.J. (Arjan) Blokland / Prof. Dr. P. (Paul)
Nieuwbeerta
NSCR (Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime
and Law Enforcement)
P.O.Box 792 - 2300 AT Leiden
The Netherlands
Tel: +31 (0)71 - 527 8527 (secr.)
Fax: +31 (0)71 - 527 8537
Email: edlc.esc@nscr.nl
European Homicide Research (EHR) (Chair: Marieke
Liem )
Origins
Homicide is one of the most dramatic and tragic offences.
It has very high priority in research, public opinion,
policy, and prevention in the European nations. Unfortunately,
it is one of the most difficult crimes to be studied
due to the low frequency and the high variability
of events.
Moreover, most statistical sources on homicide that
exist in European countries are hardly cross-nationally
comparable. Regrettably to date our knowledge and
information on homicide in Europe is rather limited.
Therefore, it is of importance to stimulate the study
of homicide in each of the different European countries.
Furthermore, there is a need to describe differences
in homicide patterns across European countries and
examine various explanations for the (cross-national)
differences in these patterns. Violent crimes result
from the complex interplay between individual and
contextual factors, including societal and legal institutions.
Since these institutions differ cross-nationally,
homicide patterns may do so accordingly. Cross-national
research thus is inexplicable to gain detailed knowledge
on homicide and test criminological theories on violence.
In order to stimulate homicide research in Europe
and to promote contact between the various European
researchers working on national homicide studies,
we have established the European Homicide Research
working group. Fortunately, homicide research
projects are underway in various European countries
and the number of European homicide researchers is
substantial and growing. We would like to invite the
ESC members involved in these homicide studies to
combine their expertise and join the working group.
Aim
To facilitate research on homicide in Europe and maximize
international dissemination of homicide research results.
Objectives
A number of specific objectives in support of this
aim have been established:
promote communication between European homicide
researchers
organize thematic homicide sessions at the annual
ESC meetings
establish cross-national research ties and promote
international collaboration on homicide research
offer a 'best European paper' award for outstanding
research in the area of homicide research
Membership
The working group is chaired by and its activities
coordinated by Marieke Liem. All ESC-members involved
in homicide 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 ehr.esc@nscr.nl.
Contact address
Marieke Liem
Leiden University
Law Faculty
Department of Criminology
Steenschuur 25
2311 ES Leiden
The Netherlands
Tel: +31 71 527 7462
Email:
m.c.a.liem@law.leidenuniv.nl
ESC Working Group on Community Sanctions
Acting Chair: Fergus McNeill (University
of Glasgow)
++44 (0)141 330 5075
F.McNeill@sccjr.ac.uk
Members:
Kristel Beyens, Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Jose Cid, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona
Elena Larrauri, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona
Fergus McNeill, University of Glasgow
Shadd Maruna, Queen's University of Belfast
Mike Nellis, University of Strathclyde
Peter Raynor, Swansea University
Gwen Robinson, University of Sheffield
Sonja Snacken, Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Kerstin Svensson, Lunds Universitet
Cyrus Tata, University of Strathclyde
Thomas Ugelvik, Universitetet i Oslo
Pamela Ugwudike, Swansea University
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 Fergus
McNeill at F.McNeill@sccjr.ac.uk
Eurogang Network (Contact Person: Frank
Van Gemert)
ESC members with an interest in developing an understanding
of the scope, causes, nature and consequences of
gangs through systematic, comparative and multi-method
research are welcome to join the Eurogang Network.
The Network was formed in the late 90s and since
then has held 9 international workshops, developed
a set of protocols for comparative research, and
organized the publication of several edited volumes.
In spring of 2008 the Network became affiliated
with the ESC as a working group.
Our objectives are:
1)To develop conceptual and methodological
research tools for carrying out comparative gang research
2) To build a body of knowledge about the scopes,
causes, nature and control of gangs across Europe
3) To foster a constructive and amicable dialogue
between different theoretical, disciplinary and national
research traditions in the study of the relationship
between the group aspects of youth transitions and
offending
4) To offer support, mentoring, and training
to scholars interested in the comparative study of
gangs and generally assist European scholars interested
in the study of gangs
5) To facilitate transfer of knowledge from
academic research to the policy and practitioner community
in the area of youth street gangs
6) To develop specific funded research collaborations
between our members.
Membership remains informal and everybody that
shares our aims is welcome. Those interested in
active participation should email Frank Van Gemert
(f.vangemert@rechten.vu.nl)
for an initial contact. You will also need to contact
Professor Kerner (hans-juergen.kerner@uni-tuebingen.de)
for inclusion in the Eurogang distribution list.
The Eurogang Network is governed through a Steering
Committee composed of:
Frank Weerman
Frank Van Gemert
Juanjo Medina
Judith Aldridge
Finn-Aage Esbensen
Cheryl Maxson
For more details you can visit our website (http://www.umsl.edu/~ccj/eurogang/euroganghome.htm).
European Society of Criminology Working Group
on Policing (Co-Chairs: Nick
Fyfe and Alistair Henry)
Current
activities of the Working Group on Policing
The Working Group on Policing will be playing an
active role at this year's annual conference in
Liege in September. Members of the Working Group
will also be interested in an exciting preconference
event being organised through the University of
Ghent. The event is entitled 'Police, Policing,
Policy and the City' and will run on Saturday 4
and Sunday 5 September.
Further information and registration details can
be found through the following link:
http://www.sva.ugent.be/home.php?content=04-05/09-ESC%20Preconference&sub=SVA
Origins of the Working Group on Policing
This working group was established following the
8th annual meeting of the ESC in Edinburgh in September
2008. In the first instance the working group intends
to play an active role in stimulating and organising
a series of themed panels at the next meeting of
the ESC in Ljubljana, Slovenia in 2009.
Aims and objectives of the Working Group on
Policing
The proposed Working Group on Policing aims to
realise the central aim of the ESC in relation to
the field of policing and police research:
The Society wishes to foster criminological scholarship,
research, education and training, and to encourage
scholarly, scientific and practical exchange and
cooperation among criminologists in Europe and elsewhere.
Its objective is further to serve as a forum for
the dissemination of criminological knowledge at
the European level.
To this end there are three inter-related aims
of the Working Group on Policing:
To facilitate the networking of scholars and practitioners
interested in the study of police organisations and
policing
To open up and develop lines of communication and
cooperation between nationally-based research centres,
institutes and academies with policing-related interests
and activities
To act as a hub through which scholars, practitioners
and the policy community can collaborate productively
together (e.g. through the development of comparative
research programmes, knowledge transfer events, visiting
scholarships/fellowships, or joint teaching and continuing
professional development ventures)
Proposed activities of the ESC Working Group
on Policing
The Working Group on Policing will play an active
role in organising themed panel sessions at the
2009 conference in Ljubljana. It will also hold
a meeting at this conference at which the future
direction of the Working Group will be discussed.
It is envisaged that the Working Group has the potential
to act as a hub through which scholars interested
in policing and policing research (broadly defined)
can network, and that it might be used as a means
to promote knowledge transfer and the development
of comparative research projects. ESC members interested
in becoming involved in any of the activities of
the Working Group on Policing are warmly encouraged
to contact members of the steering group.
Steering Group of the Working Group on Policing
The following people volunteered to act as a steering
group for the WGP in its early stages. The steering
group will take responsibility for coordinating
the activities of the working group and will also
act as points of contact for members or interested
parties wishing to contact and/or contribute to
the life and development of it.
Sofie De Kimpe: sofie.de.kimpe@vub.ac.be
Thomas Feltes: thomas.feltes@rub.de
Nick Fyfe:n.r.fyfe@dundee.ac.uk
Helene Gundhus:helgun@phs.no
Alistair Henry: a.henry@ed.ac.uk
Jan Terpstra: j.terpstra@jur.ru.nl
Rachel Tuffin:rachel.tuffin@npia.pnn.police.uk
European Sourcebook Group
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 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,
will be published in 2009. It will be a full edition,
with the addition of some new crime types.
All editions of the European Sourcebook are available
in the group's Webpage:
http://www.europeansourcebook.org/
The European Sourcebook Group became an ESC Working
Group at the end of 2008. The current members of
the group are:
Martin KILLIAS, University of Zurich, Switzerland
(Chairman)
Marcelo AEBI, University of Lausanne, Switzerland
Bruno AUBUSSON DE CAVARLAY, CESDIP / CNRS,
France
Gordon BARCLAY, Home Office, United Kingdon
Beata GRUSZCZYNSKA, Institute of Justice,
Poland
Stefan HARRENDORF, Georg-August-Universität,
Germany
Markku HEISKANEN, HEUNI, Finland
Vasilika HYSI, University of Tirana, Albania
Veronique JAQUIER, University of Lausanne,
Switzerland
Jörg-Martin JEHLE, Georg?August?Universität,
Germany
Ernesto SAVONA, Transcrime, Italy
Olena SHOSTKO, Yaroslav Mudry National Law
Academy, Ukraine
Paul SMIT, Ministry of Justice, The Netherlands
Rannveig THORISDOTTIR, The Reykjavik Metropolitan
Police, Iceland
ESC Working group on prison life and the consequences
of imprisonment (Chair: Anja
Dirkzwager)
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.
Contact address
Dr. A.J.E. (Anja) Dirkzwager
NSCR (Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime
and Law Enforcement)
PO Box 71304
1008 BH AMSTERDAM
The Netherlands
Tel: +31 (0)20 - 598 5239 (secr.)
Fax: +31 (0)20 - 598 3975
Email: adirkzwager@nscr.nl
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