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This article focuses on the book "Terrorism and the Violence of the State: Working Papers in European Criminology," which is a volume of collected papers by the European Group for the Study of Deviance and Social Control. The book has a dual objective, to present a declaration in support of the German professors involved in the "Buback Obituary" affair with a promise of international solidarity in the struggle for academic freedom and to provide the scholarly foundation upon which a rational discussion of the nature of State power and State political oppression might be erected. These papers offer a varied discourse on implications and repercussions of the abuse of institutionalized power and authority. "Buback Obituary" affair is related to the political and judicial consequences of the publication of an article entitled "Buback-An Obituary," by G&omul;ttingen University student newspaper. This article was about the murder of West German Attorney General Buback. As a set of working papers, the book sets its own terms, that of an ongoing discussion of a specific historical event and its consequence and succeeds admirably.

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The number of outlaw bikers is growing globally. Despite this, little research exists on these groups and their alleged violent tendencies. To address this, the current paper uses unique data to examine whether gang violence causes outlaw biker violence. The period examined runs from mid-2008 until early 2012 during which violent clashes occurred between outlaw bikers and street gang members involved in an alleged conflict in Copenhagen, Denmark. A precise description of each individual act of violence would make it possible to identify whether specific acts were carried out in furtherance of the alleged conflict. This would allow one to determine whether outlaw bikers commit violence on behalf of their club. However, such knowledge is unavailable. The paper therefore takes a different approach by examining whether acts of violence committed by the two groups are statistically associated. In other words, it considers whether one or more acts can be described as retaliatory during the observation periods. The sample consists of 640 individuals involved with the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club or with non-biker street gangs–both of which are present in Copenhagen. Statistical models are used to predict 143 violent events committed by 196 outlaw bikers. The results suggest that violence committed by gang members predicts violence committed by outlaw bikers. This indicates that violent acts committed by outlaw bikers are at least partly a form of retaliation carried out on behalf of their club. The paper expands the literature on the kinds of inter-group, micro-level processes that can lead to reciprocal violence by including outlaw bikers in a literature that has previously focused on non-biker street gangs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although there has recently been a considerable increase in research into lone actor terrorism, one of the main areas that remains understudied is that of target selection. The lack of empirically driven studies that can guide prevention measures is a notable oversight. This paper applies methods from environmental criminology to examine the residence-to-attack journeys of 122 lone terrorist acts in the U.S and Europe. The distance decay effect was evident, and significant differences were found between subgroups. Individuals were more likely to travel further if a) they were in the U.S, b) they had links to a wider network, c) they had a single-issue ideology, d) they attacked an iconic target, e) they attacked a symbolic building, or f) they used a bomb as their main weapon. A few case studies are discussed which highlight a need to conduct further research that considers the whole nodal network of an individual. The findings suggest that distance can be put forward as a constraining factor on lone actor target selection and provide support for the notion that the spatial decision making of terrorists is similar to traditional criminals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A key challenge for public criminology is the translation between concepts employed in policy discourse and those used by social scientists. Given that concepts constitute social problems and they can have multiple meanings for policy-makers and social scientists, then deliberation about what they signify matters in understanding how these actors can talk to, rather than past, one another in framing policy discourse about crime and revealing alternative policy agendas. This challenge is accentuated in the comparative context of European criminology, which is characterized by competing tendencies to generalize about problems of ‘Freedom, Security and Justice’ and to recognize the variegated problems and cultures of control across Europe. In this context, the presumption of universality can mistranslate concepts of crime and control by obscuring contextual insight, while the presumption of particularity can inhibit cross-cultural dialogue and deliberation. The paper explores this challenge in relation to the concept of ‘urban security’, which is prevalent in the policy discourse on social crime prevention, particularly in Central and Southern Europe. To establish the provenance, prevalence and significance of this concept, the paper discusses findings from a policy Delphi that structured deliberation about the meaning of urban security among criminologists sampled from the European Society of Criminology and policy-makers sampled from the European Crime Prevention Network. It concludes with reflections on the value of deliberative methods, such as the policy Delphi, for the cross-cultural validation of criminological constructs in comparative research. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Objectives: This paper focuses on the issue of intimate partner violence and, specifically, on the distribution of femicides over time and the existence of copycat effects. This is the subject of an ongoing debate often triggered by the social alarm following multiple intimate partner homicides (IPHs) occurring in a short span of time. The aim of this research is to study the evolution of IPHs and provide a far-reaching answer by rigorously analyzing and searching for patterns in data on femicides. Methods: The study analyzes an official dataset, provided by the system VioGén of the Secretaría de Estado de Seguridad (Spanish State Secretariat for Security), including all the femicides occurred in Spain in 2007-2017. A statistical methodology to identify temporal interdependencies in count time series is proposed and applied to the dataset. The same methodology can be applied to other contexts. Results: There has been a decreasing trend in the number of femicides per year. No interdependencies among the temporal distribution of femicides are observed. Therefore, according to data, the existence of copycat effect in femicides cannot be claimed. Conclusions: Around 2011 there was a clear change in the average number of femicides which has not picked up. Results allow for an informed answer to the debate on copycat effect in Spanish femicides. The planning of femicides prevention activities should not be a reaction to a perceived increase in their occurrence. As a copycat effect is not detected in the studied time period, there is no evidence supporting the need to censor media reports on femicides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to take a holistic approach to studying fear of crime by testing predictors at multiple levels of analyses. Data from the European Social Survey (N = 56,752 from 29 countries) were used to test and extend the Income Inequality and Sense of Vulnerability Hypotheses. The findings confirm that (1) individuals in societies with greater income inequalities are more fearful of crime, and (2) older or disabled people as well as women report greater fear of crime. Contrary to the hypotheses, ethnic majority and not ethnic minority members report greater fear of crime, if they reside in high income inequality countries. It is further demonstrated that fear of crime explains the inverse association between income inequality and subjective well-being in this particular subsample. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

My objectives in this paper are to try and identify the range of challenges that now confront critical criminologists who work in, and are attentive to, the "new Europe" whose construction was so clearly signalled by the Maastricht Treaty (the Treaty on European Union) of 1993. I want to concentrate here on two issues -- firstly, the challenge of situating the work of criminology in relation to the process of political union (and enlargement) of the European Union, and, secondly, the articulation of an agenda of work for critical criminology, that derives, from an understanding of this broader context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

All contemporary societies are facing environmental crime as one among many modern threats to the environment and human / animal life and this is due to the unlimited exploitation of natural resources and pollution. The aim of the present paper is to describe different responses to environmental crime and the development of green criminology in South Eastern Europe. In this region environmental crime occurs under the influence of social conditions and circumstances in which the environment is used as a source of resources for survival, as well as economic factors which mean the environment is used as a resource for profit. For countries in South Eastern Europe it is typical that environmental criminals change their modus operandi and adapt to new socio-economic circumstances, use different loopholes in legislation and exploit gaps in infrastructure and enforcement leading to committing environmental offences without being processed and punished. In many countries of South Eastern Europe green criminology is still in its nascent stages but is focusing on similar obstacles and challenges to those identified elsewhere, such as multi-disciplinarity, cooperation with the natural sciences, and responding to particularities in the region, such as pollution of marine and coastal ecosystems, hunting tourism, and organized crimes such as timber logging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In contemporary European criminology, there is a growing understanding of the fear of crime as the consequence of, and a code for, broader social anxieties, the origins of which are usually traced to fundamental social and global transformation processes characteristic of late modernity. Within the large body of papers published on this topic, one can differentiate between two distinct perspectives: a generalized insecurity approach, according to which free-floating, amorphous anxieties about modernization are directly projected onto crime, and an expanded community concern approach, whereby abstract anxieties about social change require the prism of local conditions in order to convert into fear of crime. Here, these two perspectives are examined on the basis of survey data from Austria. The results provide support for both approaches, with slight advantages for the generalized insecurity model. We also demonstrate that large parts of the frequently reported association between concerns about incivility and fear of crime can be traced to their common roots in broader social anxieties. Questions are raised pertaining to the generalizability of the findings and a comparative research agenda is encouraged which acknowledges that pathways into fear of crime may differ from country to country, depending on the sociocultural and political–institutional makeup of a society. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Studies of the costings of crime often sidestep the issue of what constitutes “crime”. This is problematic both because it fails to render explicit the policy significance of the categories of offences used in the costings exercise and because, within international and comparative contexts, differences between national definitions may give rise to misleading conclusions. In this paper we elaborate on these problems, indicating the possibilities for resolving them, thus facilitating the evaluation of the costs of crime and enabling more reliable interpretations to be placed on such evaluations. After some general observations on legal definitions of crime, we consider in turn the descriptive definitions used in criminal codes and, external to legislation, by the courts and the police. We continue by briefly considering the relevance of prescriptive definitions for crime costings. We then conclude with some indications on how the definition problem may impact on the costings of crime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article constitutes the first comprehensive review of the EU's export of crime control policies and 'aid to internal security' across regions over the last 15 years. Drawing on both International Relations and criminology, it develops an analytical framework to identify the political rationalities and technologies of crime control that the EU attempts to transfer across the Eastern and Southern (extended) neighbourhoods. By scrutinising 216 projects aimed at combating transnational crime beyond Europe's borders, spanning law enforcement, border security, criminal justice, and the penitentiary sector, the empirical analysis is geared towards detecting and systematising the ways of thinking and doing crime control that the EU seeks to promote and export. Moreover, it investigates the 'action at a distance' whereby it does so. It is argued that in shaping third countries' ability to criminalise, police, indict, convict, and punish, the EU is simultaneously defining its own security actorness, specifically consolidating its role as a 'global crime fighter'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the course of the last decade or two, there has been a growing historiographic consensus that the early twentieth-century science of criminology in Germany and elsewhere in Europe is best understood as a body of knowledge that aimed to identify and classify criminals independent of their criminal acts. The aim of this science, then, was to construct – and frequently eliminate – the criminal as 'other'. As such, scholars have broadly endorsed the Foucauldian narrative that initiated interest in the history of criminology, despite frequent quibbles with Foucault's methodology and empirical legwork. Recent scholarship has investigated the nature and chronology of the shift from criminal anthropology to criminal psychology, the interaction of criminological/penological theory with prison practice, and the interaction of criminology with broader medical and social knowledges, from degeneration theory to social statistics. The results of this research tend to strengthen the above-described consensus, unsurprisingly perhaps given that they draw on it as their implicit theoretical foundation. My paper seeks to challenge this vision of criminology as a science centring solely upon the deviance of the criminal. It does so by drawing attention to the work of Hans Gross, an Austro-German criminologist and criminalist, and the debates raging in the Archiv für Kriminalanthropologie und Kriminalistik, a criminological journal edited by Gross. I will argue that Gross has been unjustly sidelined as a narrow-minded, practice-orientated reactionary whose ideas concerned investigative technique only and had no theoretical impact on criminology. I will show that Gross's critique of criminological methodology was founded on sophisticated theoretical doubts which induced him to turn away from the assumption of criminal deviance as the starting point of a science concerned with criminality. His ideas both reflected and fed a much wider debate within criminology and its attendant disciplines concerned with quasi-pathological phenomena among the general population, thus blurring any line that would delineate criminal and non-criminal. At the same time, implicitly, Gross and his followers erected a sharp line of demarcation that separated the unreliable, proto-degenerate masses on the one hand from trained, educated, and rational experts on the other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What is European criminology about? Through topic modelling, we investigate the content of 11,724 presentations held at the annual conferences of the European Society of Criminology, the largest and most influential professional association in Europe for those who are actively engaged in research, teaching, and/or practice in criminology, from 2001 to 2019. We extract 50 topics and identify the top contributing institutions and countries based on first author institutional affiliation. In addition, we determine the most and least influential topics in European criminology. We further explore how the prominence of topics has evolved over time and identify five topics that are increasingly being addressed and three topics that have gradually declined in interest – hot and cold topics, respectively. The results are discussed in light of previous research on European criminology and current debates on its epistemology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper takes the form of a report on the panel discussion held at the conclusion of the 1992 meetings of the European Group for the Study of Deviance and Social Control in Padua in September 1992. In the light of a perceived crisis of relevance for earlier, 1970s notions of critique in criminology, and in the context of a conference dedicated to the theme of human rights in a uniting Europe, eight panellists from Italy, England, and Canada via Ireland debated their different versions of the project of critical criminology in the last years of the twentieth century. Each of these presentations is summarised here, and an attempt is made to recognise the emergence of a debate between a "human rights criminology", ever-sensitive to the possibilities of repression and control in Fortress Europe, and an alternative perspective, predicated perhaps on some notion of Social Defence and a realist programme of crime prevention and control across free market Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on causes of crime of native born individuals of European immigrants. This higher crime rate of the native born of foreign stock has been generally attributed to the fact that the cultural guides of their parents' social heritage have been swept from them in their strange new turbulent environment and those of the new cultural milieu have not yet been instilled in them. The purpose of this paper is to analyze somewhat critically this general thesis. To do so, certain widely accepted remarks concerning urban and rural crime rates are presented as a basis for discussion. Many criminologists have observed the marked disparity in crime rates between urban and rural districts. The European immigrant, landing on American shores, was forced to find cheap lodgings as he was usually penniless. Anti-social behavior first becomes evident in the delinquencies of predatory boy gangs. Boys naturally tend to play with other boys. Behavior patterns organized in the former were carried over into and accentuated by the latter. Sons, both of native and foreign born stocks, made this promotion from juvenile delinquent to adult offender with equal facility.

The article sets out the results of a research of the criminogenic potential capacity of cigarette smuggling. The article provides an analysis of the criminological connotation of the criminogenic potential capacity of tobacco products smuggling and presents the characteristics of the Ukrainian peculiarities of this pan-European problem. The article presents a view of the dynamics and geographical features of countering cigarette smuggling in Europe, regarding the use of FRONTEX (European Border and Coast Guard Agency) and the national border authorities. The article conveys the nature and consequences of the interrelation of cigarette smuggling and cross-border crime, and it identifies the ways to counteract this phenomenon in the context of the harmonization of the policies of different countries and the EU in the relevant sphere. Additionally, the article covers the reasons for the legislative trends in the criminalization of the excisable goods smuggling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The reported prevalence rate of violence varies considerably between studies, even when conducted in similar populations. The reasons for this are largely unknown. This article considers the effects of nonresponse bias on the reported prevalence rate of interpersonal violence. We also single out violence perpetrated in intimate relationships and compare our results to previous Swedish studies. The aim was to explore the reasons for the large discrepancies in the prevalence rates found between studies. Material and method: This is a cross sectional study of a random population sample. The NorVold Abuse Questionnaire (NorAQ), covering emotional, physical, and sexual violence, was answered by 754 men (response rate 35%) and 749 women (response rate 38%). Nonresponse bias was investigated in six ways, e.g., findings were replicated in two samples and we explored non-responders’ reasons for declining participation. Also, the prevalence rate of intimate partner violence was compared to four previous studies conducted in Sweden, considering the methodological differences. Results and discussion: The only evidence of nonresponse bias found was for differences between the sample and the background population concerning the sociodemographic characteristics. However, the magnitude of that effect is bleak in comparison with the large discrepancies found in the prevalence rates between studies concerning intimate partner violence, e.g., emotional violence women: 11–41% and men: 4–37%; sexual and/or physical violence women: 12–27% and men: 2–21%. Some of the reasons behind these differences were obvious and pertained to differences in the definition and operationalization of violence. However, a considerable proportion of the difference could not easily be accounted for. Conclusion: It is not reasonable that so little is known about the large discrepancies in the prevalence rate for what is supposedly the same concept, i.e., intimate partner violence. This study is a call for more empirical research on methods to investigate violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Femicide, defined as the killings of females by males because they are females, is becoming recognized worldwide as an important ongoing manifestation of gender inequality. Despite its high prevalence or widespread prevalence, only a few countries have specific registries about this issue. This study aims to assemble expert opinion regarding the strategies which might feasibly be employed to promote, develop and implement an integrated and differentiated femicide data collection system in Europe at both the national and international levels. Concept mapping methodology was followed, involving 28 experts from 16 countries in generating strategies, sorting and rating them with respect to relevance and feasibility. The experts involved were all members of the EU-Cost-Action on femicide, which is a scientific network of experts on femicide and violence against women across Europe. As a result, a conceptual map emerged, consisting of 69 strategies organized in 10 clusters, which fit into two domains: “Political action” and “Technical steps”. There was consensus among participants regarding the high relevance of strategies to institutionalize national databases and raise public awareness through different stakeholders, while strategies to promote media involvement were identified as the most feasible. Differences in perceived priorities according to the level of human development index of the experts’ countries were also observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a quantitative look at the European homicide research published in selected main international journals in the field of social science criminology (SSC) since 2000. Building on our previous, mainly narrative work (Kivivuori et al., 2012), we use search string targeting article titles in selected SSC journals. The aim is to capture the basic features and patterns of homicide research conducted by scholars affiliated with European institutions and departments. Research activity is then examined in terms of its quantity, patterns and trends, with attention to theoretical approaches and emphases. Our analyses suggest that European homicide research is increasing, is relatively concentrated to specific countries with strong homicide research traditions, and shows a rising percentage of female scholars. In terms of method and substance, qualitative and mixed methods appear to be ascendant, and research increasingly focuses on sub-types of homicide rather than on homicide in general. The most frequent topic of special homicide research is intimate partner homicide, with genocide and homicide-suicide studies also drawing European attention. The theoretical traditions of SSC-based homicide research are nearly always acknowledged and often explicitly developed. Social control theory emerges as the most discussed and ascendant theory. In addition to narrative commentary of emerging themes, we describe the ‘uses of theory’ in European homicide research, and detect a fruitful tension between nomothetic and idiographic approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The European Journal of Criminology was launched 10 years ago. In this article, the journal’s founding editor, David J. Smith, reflects on the journal’s contribution to European criminology. The article recalls the ambitions for the journal when the idea was first discussed, and looks back over the first nine volumes to assess the extent to which these ambitions have been fulfilled. It argues that the study of crime must draw on both humanist and scientific traditions. Because its moral and political dimensions are inescapable, criminology is bound to have a contested relationship with government. The weaknesses of the journal so far have been on the humanist and critical side, with an associated lack of deep and detailed qualitative research. Among the many strengths are lively and varied comparative studies, research using innovative methods, and articles that open up new fields and shift the emphasis away from minor offending by juveniles. Building on this base, this article discusses the role the journal should play in creating the future of European criminology. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article addresses corporate environmental responsibility (CER) and aims to present a criminological analysis of it. We studied the opinion of a number of principle actors involved in CER in Europe in order to determine how they perceive it in terms of its definition, aetiology and approaches. For each of these dimensions we relate back to a criminological framework to ascertain how it is positioned in the green criminological debate. We start out by providing information on what corporate environmental responsibility is and how it relates to corporate social responsibility and sustainable development. Then we outline the theoretical framework in accordance with the three central themes for the criminological analysis of CER: definition, aetiology and approaches. We also explain the method that was used (semi-structured interviews). Next, we present the results according to the same threefold structure. Finally we discuss these results in a last part, which is divided in two. First, we look at the challenges that the criminological perspective poses for CER in terms of definition, aetiology and approaches. The second part of the discussion turns the question around and wonders how CER could contribute to greening criminology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whilst any estimation of crime costs is a challenge even at a national level and in respect to crimes not particularly problematic from the definitional viewpoint, like volume crimes, the task is much harder when one has to deal with the harm caused by organised crime, especially from a comparative perspective. First, notwithstanding many international acts and studies, the term ‘organised crime’ is still one of those most debated and blurred in criminology. To complicate matters further, any cross-country assessment encounters such a wide variety of national differences (cultural, in the definition of offences, and in crime data collection systems) that the results are hardly comparable. Though extremely difficult, discussing the topic makes a great deal of sense today, and especially within the European Union, because there is strong demand for sound knowledge on the most harmful activities perpetrated by organised criminal groups and where these are localised. Considering the increasing importance attached to the issue, this article critically discusses existing attempts to measure organised crime harm from a comparative perspective, highlighting their strengths and weaknesses. It first reviews harm assessment models developed to date at the international level, and mainly consisting of surveys. It then presents a different approach to the subject, one more centered on official statistics and which has recently resulted in the development of a methodology in the context of a EU-funded study entitled IKOC (Improving Knowledge on Organised Crime to develop a common European approach). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article emphasizes the aim of the "European Journal of Criminology" towards supporting the development in criminology in Europe. The reasons of the founders of the European Society of Criminology for establishing an academic journal are revealed. Subject matter covered by the journal are enumerated.

The concept of governance alerts us to the exercise of political authority beyond the nation state. In criminological thought governance has been associated with the preventive turn in crime control strategies in Europe that acknowledge the limits of criminal justice, invoke the direct participation of other statutory as well as commercial and voluntary sector actors and, in so doing, generate new objects and places of control signified by notions of 'safety' and 'security'. The corollary of this preventive turn is a geohistorical approach to comparative criminology that is capable of recognizing the diverse contexts that constitute new governable places and objects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a list of selected criminological literature in Europe.

This article proposes that the basis of international criminalization is that terrorism severely undermines individual human rights, the state and the political process, and the stability of international relations. Criminalization expresses the international community's outrage at and condemnation of acts of international terrorism, morally stigmatizing terrorist offenders and hopefully deterring potential offenders. Definition and criminalization of terrorism also aim to approximate national laws; improve transnational law enforcement by confining the political offence exception to extradition; deny asylum and refugee status to terrorists; and further the implementation of existing international anti-terrorism treaties. Some of these rationales are more persuasive than others and each is examined in turn. Historically, technical disputes about the intricacies of drafting an acceptable definition of terrorism have obscured more fundamental questions about the policy rationale for defining and criminalizing terrorism in the first place. The need for definition and criminalization cannot be simply assumed; it is incumbent on those advocating definition and criminalization to produce persuasive reasons for action.

Editorial. Discusses need for development of crime studies in European countries. Problems faced by criminologists during their crime research; Importance of criminal career for criminology research; Significance of DNA profiling in criminological research.

What role can the criminal law play in the battle against child sexual abuse? Should sexual relations of and with, persons under a certain age be criminalized regardless of the circumstances, even if they are consensual ("age of consent," "minimum age")? Where should such a minimum age-limit be fixed? Should there be a special, higher age-limit for particular conditions (e.g., "seduction," "corruption")? Should sexual contacts with minors within a relationship of authority be criminalized generally, or just if authority is abused? Should criminal proceedings be instituted ex officio or upon complaint only? Should authorities be provided with a power of discretion or should they be obliged to prosecute and sentence in each case? In answering these questions, it is highly beneficial to have a look across the borders to the solutions other countries have reached. This study presents an overview on the criminal law governing the sexual behavior of, and with, children and adolescents in all European jurisdictions and in selected jurisdictions outside of Europe. It shows which categories of offences exist and from which age onward young people can effectively consent to various kinds of sexual behavior and relations in the different countries. All states in Europe and all of the studied jurisdictions overseas have minimum age limits for sexual relations, and punish sexual relations with persons under a certain age. Nowhere is this age set lower than 12 years. In Europe, in one-half of the jurisdictions, consensual sexual relations with 14-year-old adolescents are legal; in three-quarters, with 15-year olds; in a majority, this is also the case when the older partner has started the relation (and also when the initiative contains an offer of remuneration). In nearly all jurisdictions, such relations are legal from age 16 onward. Most states apply a higher age limit for contacts in relationships of authority. If the authority is not misused, the age limit in most jurisdictions is set between 14 and 16; if it is misused, between 16 and 18. Most states make no difference between heterosexual and homosexual relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]