Projects
THE ENVIRONMENTAL CRIMES AND HARMS BEHIND PANDEMICS A green criminological exploration of wildlife trafficking, farms and markets in Vietnam KU Leuven
After the breakout of the COVID-19 pandemic, zoonotic diseases -diseases transmitted from animals to humans- have dominated the central stage of the world debate and policy agenda. While its study has traditionally belonged to biomedical sciences, this research project aims to add a criminological view to such literature. Concretely, it aims to understand the nature and cause of harmful and/or law-breaking behaviour leading to zoonotic ...
"Private investigations: not a public inquiry". A historical criminological analysis of post-war developments in policy, regulation and nature of the private investigation industry in Belgium (1945-2020) Ghent University
Over the past decades, the increasing participation of private actors in the provision of security has gained more and more academic attention in Belgium. This scholarly evolution has led to advanced criminological debate, theory and concepts on the trajectory of frontline policing activities of the private security industry, such as manned guarding. However, it has largely neglected the development of a significant yet traditionally ignored ...
Urban Foraging. Target and location choice among graffiti writers. Ghent University
Scholars in environmental criminology argue that the commonly applied rational choice perspective is flawed, and have advanced the hypothesis that offenders exhibit behaviour similar to that of foraging animals when seeking suitable targets and locations. This proposal argues that graffiti writing is an appropriate case to examine whether criminals behave like optimal foragers when choosing where and when to offend.
The impact of electronic monitoring and imprisonment on the convict and hisenvironment. A comperative experience research. Ghent University
Little is known about the similarities of electronic monitoring and the prison sentence regarding their impact and severity. This project will try to fill this gap by examining the impact of EM and imprisonment on the convicts and their environment through experience research. We will use qualitative methodologies: a literature review and an empirical research with in-depth interviews with convicts and their environment.
Performing culture in youth courts: An active ethnography of narrative negotiations Ghent University
The project explores the ways in which the notion ‘culture’ is mobilised in youth courts. This institutional context is underpinned by "it's for your own good" ideals, entailing a constant balancing between protecting and punishing young people. Professionals also need to take into account youth's overall background. Previous research has shown that 'mundane' understandings of ‘culture' influence these assessments and at times negatively ...
"Can I See some ID, please?" An explorative research of police decision-making and attitudes on stopping and searching youngsters. Vrije Universiteit Brussel
The point of (no) return? An ethnographic study of forced removal practices in immigration detention centres. Vrije Universiteit Brussel
An empirical test of crime generators and attractors. Ghent University
This research project tests one of the central tenets of crime pattern theory and scrutinizes the influence of crime generators and attractors on the spatial clustering of crime in an urban environment. The project focuses both on the spatial aspects of those urban locations where crime clusters and how different offender types interact with these locations.
What's the harm in environmental crime? Understanding the significance of harm for environmental governance. Ghent University
A literature review in green criminology and environmental governance provides the frame of analysis to (1) systematically identify/compare the harmfulness of documented environmental crimes and (2) assess/evaluate the significance of harm in environmental governance of the waste sector. This provides empirical evidence to refine theories on environmental harm and victimization and assesses the potential of harm to inform environmental ...