Criminology in Europe

Every European Society of Criminology conference brings a vast number of ideas for comparative criminological research and the development of different perspectives on crime and criminality. The title of this year's annual conference is Crimes Against Humans and Crimes Against Humanity: Implications for Modern Criminology.

The desire to move and look for better life conditions elsewhere is a key experience in the history of humankind. What has changed dramatically through history is the conditions for such mobility. The need for borders is today taken for granted, and governments all over the world are concerned about where to draw them and how to guard them.

The process of globalization is transforming the relationship between states, non-state actors and the nature and meaning of territorial and temporal borders. Almost paradoxically, the borders of states are increasingly porous in relation to licit flows and fortified against what are determined to be illicit flows, including irregular migrants such as asylum seekers, refugees, ‘illegal’ workers and stateless people.

As the 2016 Referendum on UK membership in the EU painfully and vividly demonstrated, Britain has long had a complicated relationship with Europe. Such matters have affected and been apparent in border control, most notably in the UK’s refusal to join the Schengen Zone, and more recently in the referendum itself, which was, at least in part, run as a bid to re-establish national sovereignty and prevent EU mobility. An insistence on British exceptionalism has also shaped the area in which I work: immigration detention, where the UK opted out of the returns directive.

Dating back to the seminal works published by Chicago School scholars in the early twentieth century, criminology studies have consolidated a consistent body of knowledge on migration and human mobility. Over the last century, each migration wave has not only led to heated public and political debates on the relation between migration and crime, but also boosted academic research on the impact of these population movements on crime and punishment (Melossi, 2015).

The idea for this Working Group emerged at the ESC conference in Ljubljana, Slovenia, in September 2009. A number of those present indicated that they would welcome the opportunity to share ideas on gender, crime and criminal justice. Informal discussions then led to a request to formalise the Working Group.

Members of the European Criminology Group on Atrocity Crimes and Transitional Justice (ECACTJ) are looking forward to the 18th Annual Conference of the European Society of Criminology in Sarajevo, Bosnia. This is a highly significant place for our work as a group, as well as for many of our members who are engaged in tremendous research on atrocity crimes and on transitional justice in the area.

The 5th 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. 5th 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).

The Eurogang Working Group consists of researchers focusing on gangs and troublesome youth groups, and is linked to a network of around 200 European and non-European researchers with a broad interest in the subject of gang research. Researchers within this network have been working together for more than 20 years to develop a common framework for comparative research, and to conduct and share research on gangs and troublesome youth groups. It has published a number of standardised methodological instruments and a common research design, which can be acquired easily.

Since our last report at the end of 2015, the EUROC working group has continued to expand its membership (now over 120 members) and grow intellectually, as evidenced by the substantial presence at the ESC Annual Conferences in Münster in 2016 and Cardiff in 2017. Since our last report, we have published two Newsletters, where details of our activities can be read in more detail. These can be obtained by emailing our Board.

Since its formation in 2009, the working group has increased substantially. At present, about 80 members from 20 different countries have joined us. The working group aims to encourage networking and international collaborations between European researchers involved in prison research. As part of our activities, we organise thematic panel sessions at each ESC conference, which always attract a large audience and are a great opportunity to meet new researchers interested in prison research.