Welcome to CrimEUR, a new blog written by criminologists working at the Criminology Department of the Erasmus School of Law, Erasmus University Rotterdam.
What is the topic of this blog?
- Criminology. But what is criminology? Sutherland (1937) argued that it is the study of the making of laws, the breaking of laws and of society’s reaction to breaking the laws. However, criminology is about more than just criminal law. Crime is also a “product of culturally-bounded social interaction”, as Newburn (2013) describes in his handbook Criminology. In other words, crime is a social construct: what is crime and what is not, depends on what we define as such. Consequently, what is considered a crime varies from time to time and from one society to another. In this blog, we will critically reflect upon this process and in our future blogposts, we will present themes and topics, that are , according to us, part of criminology.
- Our research and related themes. Criminologists at our department study a broad variety of topics, such as (but not limited to) regulation and public and private crime control, corporate crime, organized crime, cybercrime, moral panic, (illegal) migration, local embeddedness of crime, research methods, and victimization.
crime is a social construct: what is crime and what is not, depends on what we define as such.
We aim to:
- Make our research more widely known. We are aware that scientific papers, books or reports are not the most accessible sources. Through this blog we hope to make our research accessible to a wider audience.
- Respond to recent developments in the news, research and policymaking. Scientific papers, books and reports can take months or even years to be published. Especially in crime and criminology, a lot can happen during this time. This blog facilitates a quick response to current developments.
- Develop our thoughts. That is why we welcome any response to our posts! Will you join us in our discussions?
Next week: the first blog of Lisa van Reemst about workplace aggression against firefighters on New Years’ eve!
