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Covid 19 and Organized Crime. An opportunity for connecting reliable data with policies
It is almost impossible to say with the data available today whether the pandemic has opened space to new forms of organized crime and/or has accelerated existing trends. An answer could be relevant to focus on existing policies based on a more focused knowledge of organized crime groups structures ...
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2021 / 2 Issue
Presidential Message: Criminological knowledge: between academic truths, political interests and popular feelings
COVID-19 is still the most turbulent issue in the life of our societies, and one can easily predict the growing number of criminological research projects and publications connected with pandemic themes. Soon, we can expect new exciting data on the crime trends during the pandemic and post-pandemic periods, as well as new theoretical insights on crime in new bio- and infotechnological societies. However, I would like to take the current pandemic situation as a counterpoint for a slightly different theme – the nature and role of criminological knowledge in society.
Obituary: Thomas Mathiesen
Thomas Mathiesen, a key figure in the development of criminology and sociology of law, passed away this summer.
Obituary: Martti Lehti
The Finnish criminologist Martti Lehti passed away on 18 April 2021, after a short illness, at the age of 58.
Executive Secretary Annual Report 2020
In 2020, the European Society of Criminology (ESC) had 1036 members, and 582 of them took part in the 20th Annual Meeting of the ESC, organised online on 10 and 11 September in collaboration with the ESC Working Groups. Six different awards were presented during the conference. Michael Hough received the 2020 European Criminology Award; Rok Hacin received the 2020 ESC Young Criminologist Award; Steve van de Weijer, Rutger Leukfeldt, and Wim Bernasco received the European Journal of Criminology Best Article of the Year 2019 Award; Wim Hardyns received the 2020 ESC Early Career Award; Martin Killias and David J. Smith received the 2020 Distinguished Services to the ESC Award; and Dirk van Zyl Smit and Catherine Appleton received the 2020 ESC Book Award. Through an electronic vote, the ESC members appointed Catrien Bijleveld as President-Elect, Fernando Miró-Llinares as At-Large Board Member, and Daniel Fink as Auditor. At the end of the conference, Aleksandras Dobryninas took office as President of the ESC, replacing Lesley McAra until the end of the next conference.
Candidate for At-Large Board Membership: Marie Torstensson Levander
I am honored to be nominated for the role as At-large board member of the European Society of Criminology and, if elected, I would consider it a great privilege to serve the European criminology community.
Candidate for ESC President: Klaus Boers
My research interests are still in life-course criminology, integrative theoretical models, economic crime, social control and attitudes toward crime and sanctioning. My understanding of criminological work is analytical, undertaking theory-guided empirical investigations. Since I attended an ESC meeting for the first time (in Krakow in 2005), the annual meetings and the broad spectrum of working groups with its vivid discussions have marked for me the most important forum of criminological discourse.
Candidate for At-Large Board Membership: Barbora Hola
Barbora Hola is a Senior Researcher at the Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement (NSCR) and Associate Professor in the Department of Criminal Law and Criminology at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.
2021 / 1 Issue
ESC Newsletter Renewed
After careful deliberations, the ESC Board has decided last year to abandon the print version of the Newsletter. The decision offered the opportunity to have a fresh look at the Newsletter. Here is what has changed.
Mike Hough
Professor Hough has been at the forefront of academic criminology and criminal justice in Europe and around the world for 40 years now. He is a leading world figure in the field and has made a singular and sustained contribution to the study and practice of criminal justice in Europe.
On Accepting the 2020 ESC Criminology Award
What I would like to do is to reflect on the changes that have occurred in the policy environment for criminal justice over the last 25 years. It is a game of two halves – I’ll start with an angry rant about the retreat from rationality and liberal values in countries seduced by right wing populism. After half time, I shall sketch out what I see as viable responses to this for criminologists keen to help shape policy. Inevitably, I will talk about the justice system I know best, covering England and Wales, but my analysis is, I hope, applicable more broadly across Europe.
Executive Secretary Annual Report 2019
In 2019, the European Society of Criminology (ESC) reached new all-time records in terms of membership and participants to its annual conference. The number of members reached 1386, and 1433 criminologists attended the 19th Annual Meeting of the ESC, which took place in Ghent, Belgium, from 18 to 21 September 2019. During the conference, Tapio Lappi-Seppälä received the 2019 European Criminology Award, Kjersti Lohne the 2019 ESC Young Criminologist Award, and Maria Libak Pedersen the European Journal of Criminology Best Article of the Year 2018 Award. Six fellowships to attend the conference were awarded to young criminologists from Eastern Europe. The General Assembly elected Aleksandras Dobryninas as President-Elect, Olga Petintseva as At-large Board member, and Uberto Gatti as Auditor. The day following the General Assembly, Lesley McAra took office as President of the ESC, replacing Tom Vander Beken until the end of the next conference.
Criminology of the Damned Questions
While the pandemic threat and lockdown policy have a lot of negative consequences and make our life unpredictable, unsafe, vulnerable and upset, in the current situation one can observe at least some positive impact – the compulsory isolation became not only a reliable remedy against the spread of disease but also a proper stimulus for philosophical inquiries and existential reflections.
2020 / 2 Issue
Candidate for At-Large Board Membership: Fernando Miro
Given the proposal made for my nomination, and with the essential spirit of learning much more about criminology in Europe and to contribute my experience to what is required, I have decided to accept and apply to become a member of the ESC Board. If I am elected, I will work hard to promote the essential work of the ESC and to continue to advance towards their goals.
Criminology in a Time of Pandemic
This is my last Presidential message at the end of what has proved a tumultuous year. The global pandemic has impacted almost every facet of our lives, and is likely to have far reaching consequences for education and research. In this message I am going to offer some reflections on the past twenty years of the ESC, and the challenges which the global pandemic currently poses for theory and method within criminology. The message will conclude with some thoughts about the implications of these challenges for the future of criminology as both an applied and theoretically informed field of enquiry.
2019 / 1 Issue