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Since its founding in 2006 the European working group on Developmental and Life-Course Criminology, or EDLC for short, has witnessed criminology fully embrace the life-course paradigm, with the subsequent formation of the Division of Developmental and Life-Course Criminology of the American Society of Criminology in 2012, and the launch of the Journal of Developmental and Life-Course Criminology in 2015, as tell-tale signs of its growing importance to the field.
The growing popularity of the life-course paradigm inevitably led to diversification, with working groups forming around specific topics, that can be considered ‘life-course’ in the broad sense – or at least can be used to address life-course issues - , ranging from longitudinal quantitative methodology and the effects of formal sanctions, to narrative analysis. We applaud this divergence and interpret it as a sign of the vitality of the overarching life-course approach.
Over the years, the EDLC has been a stable presence during the annual ESC meetings, hosting sessions on specific life-course topics. From the growing network of researchers participating in these sessions sprang the Routledge International Handbook of Life-Course Criminology, in which we aimed to cover the broad spectrum of life-course topics European researchers were working on. The Handbook also included theoretical and empirical contributions from life-course criminologists from outside Europe, not only to show the full breadth of the extant research, but also to provide the opportunity for both parties to showcase their work abroad. The EDLC has also been involved in organizing workshops and symposia on specific topics, introducing the life-course perspective in for example to sex offender studies and corporate crime research.
As organizing thematic life-course sessions during the annual ESC meetings has proven an effective way to build and maintain a network of like-minded researchers, we will continue to do so. In the near future we also hope to intensify our collaboration with the ASC Division of Developmental and Life-Course Criminology, to further stimulate collaboration between European and American researchers. In the meantime we are contemplating what could be a next logical step to promote European life-course research. Another edited volume? A special journal issue? Or perhaps even a joint research project? If you have strong feelings on either one of these topics, want to suggest something completely different, or would like the EDLC to assist in organizing an event of your own, do not hesitate to send us a message.
As of January 2019 the EDLC is co-chaired by Victor van der Geest, VU University Amsterdam, The Netherlands (v.vander.geest [at] vu.nl">v.vander.geest [at] vu.nl) and Janna Verbruggen, Cardiff University, UK (verbruggenj [at] cardiff.ac.uk">verbruggenj [at] cardiff.ac.uk). Membership of the European working group on Developmental and Life-Course Criminology is free of charge. To join, please contact one of the chairs and you will be notified of any future events and publications the EDLC will be involved in.
Victor van der Geest is researcher at Free University Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Janna Verbruggen is senior lecturer at Cardiff University, UK