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Ghent University
Department of Criminology
CrimRxiv Consortium, Founding Member
The Department of Criminology at Ghent University is a prominent hub in European criminology and one of Europe’s largest criminology departments. Offering high-quality education at the Bachelor, Master, and Doctoral levels, the department is dedicated to excellence in both research and education. It houses internationally renowned academics and hosts cutting-edge research institutes in the fields of criminology and criminal justice. Emphasizing a robust interdisciplinary approach, the department's faculty seeks to build foundational knowledge on the causes, patterns and consequences of crime, as well as the formal and informal responses to crime and victimization, utilizing state-of-the-art quantitative and qualitative research methods. Committed to making impact in society, the department collaborates with the Business Development Consortium i4S and the Interdisciplinary Consortium Crime, Criminology and Criminal Policy, demonstrating a dedication to translating research into societal contributions. Follow them on Twitter @crime_ugent.
Published: Nov 13, 2024
We investigate the spatial decision-making of graffiti writers when selecting target locations, examining how street segment characteristics influence exposure. Extending the rational choice perspective to expressive offending, we collected data through Systematic Social ...
Published: Nov 11, 2024
This editorial focuses on traditional types of property crime in the Netherlands and Belgium, such as burglary and theft, and property crimes involving mobile organised crime groups (MOCGs) originating from Eastern and South-Eastern Europe and the Balkan countries. Over the ...
Published: Sep 11, 2024
This special issue brings together nineteen topical and innovative papers, researching the boundaries of sexual integrity and affirmative sexual consent, gender violence, and image-based or online sexual abuse, including child sexual abuse material and non-consensual sexual ...
Published: Sep 01, 2024
This study introduces an algorithmic strategy for measuring dimensions of police presence at microgeographic units using GPS data from police patrol units. The proposed strategy builds upon the integrated theory of hot spots patrol strategy from Sherman et al. (Journal of ...
Published: Aug 30, 2024
Research into adolescent co-offending has predominantly focused on individual differences in co-offender selection, with less attention to diversity in offending behavior. Research suggests that offenders with a violent history may be less desirable as co-offenders, ...
Published: Aug 27, 2024
Co-offending is the act of committing a crime in a group. While it involves some risks, criminals engage in co-offending to achieve specific goals and needs, such as receiving physical assistance during the crime or learning new skills to commit more sophisticated crimes. The ...
Published: Jul 01, 2024
This paper aims to support the growing scope of research investigating the effectiveness of de-escalation by police officers. Through a scoping review, we analyzed the conceptualization of de-escalation by identifying the de-escalation definitions, techniques, and measures of ...
Published: Mar 20, 2024
The objective of this panel is to contribute valuable knowledge that can inform future improvements and adaptations of multi-agency structures in varying local environments with robust support from national entities. Key objectives include evaluating the current challenges ...
Published: Mar 11, 2024
In een vorige bijdrage belichtten we het werk van de evolutionaire econoom Robert Frank, meer bepaald het morele commitment- of samenwerkingsprobleem. In zijn bekende boek Passions within reason (1987) analyseert Frank ons gedrag dat niet past in een eng economisch mensbeeld ...
Published: Feb 12, 2024
Social network analysis (SNA) holds great potential for examining the influence of peers and group dynamics on the development of criminal behavior among adolescents as it offers a robust framework for studying complex social interactions. However, there needs to be more ...
Published: Jan 24, 2024
Drawing upon optimal foraging theory, we examine graffiti writers’ individual targetpreferences to establish the diversity in their target choices (henceforth called “target specialization”).Ecological research implies that the total population of writers can ...
Published: Jan 16, 2024
The CrimRxiv Consortium, a network of open criminology’s leading institutions, has announced its 20th Founding Member: Ghent University’s Department of Criminology, one of the largest such-departments in Europe and part of a global top-100 university. ...
Published: Jan 10, 2024
This article presents a further development of the existing crime scripting framework to enhance insight in the financial aspects of profit-driven crime: financial crime scripting. By drawing on the foundations of crime script analysis, financial crime scripting allows to ...
Published: Jan 05, 2024
Sexual violence is a major public health, societal, and judicial problem worldwide. Studies investigating the characteristics of its perpetrators often rely on samples of convicted offenders, which are biased by low reporting and conviction rates. Based on a self-report study ...
Published: Dec 22, 2023
Seksuele intimidatie en seksueel geweld in de openbare ruimte zijn een doordringend en actueelprobleem in de samenleving. Uit een recente peiling van Plan International (2019) onder 700Belgische jongeren van 15 tot 24 jaar uit de steden Antwerpen, Brussel & Charleroi, ...
Published: Dec 16, 2023
Little is known about crowding perception on events and the link with objective visitor counts. This research aims to fill this gap by collecting WiFi sensor counts and comparing them with perception ratings of visitors on Europe’s largest outdoor urban festival: the Ghent ...
Published: Dec 15, 2023
Organized property crime is a pervasive issue across all EU Member States, demanding immediate and collectiveaction. V-BAR specifically targets one aspect of organized property crime: motor vehicle crime, encompassing theftand the illicit trade of stolen vehicle parts. ...
Published: Nov 27, 2023
In this article, we reflect on the current structure of the Belgian police. We briefly discuss the run-up to the police reform, the objectives of the reform and the changes implemented since. We subsequently describe the current police structure and reflect on the extent to ...
Published: Nov 17, 2023
Violence against police is a reality for many officers. Despite growing concerns over the rise in violence against police and the serious individual and societal repercussions associated with it, a comprehensive overview of the psychological and physical consequences of ...
Published: Nov 09, 2023
This poster is based on a book chapter that aimed to provide insight into the role of recruitment and selection in the police organisation because they determine the influx into the police force. There are few professions where the entry is as formalised as that of a police ...
Published: Oct 06, 2023
The study examines whether school-level immigrant concentration is related to students’ involvement in violence, and whether students’ moral values moderate the relationship between immigrant concentration and violence. The study is based on six nationally representative ...
Published: Sep 06, 2023
In deze kadertekst worden de contouren geschetst van het thema dat centraal staat in ditCahier: big data policing. Wat verstaan we hieronder, hoe bakenen we het thema af en hoekijken we ernaar vanuit verschillende perspectieven? Op basis van een brede conceptualisering ...
Published: Sep 06, 2023
This study tests the law of crime concentration at place in Brussels Capital Region (approx. 1.2 million inhabitants) and examines the spatial stability of crime concentrations by applying Andresen's Spatial Point Pattern Test. Besides testing the law of crime concentration ...
Published: Sep 06, 2023
This study focuses on the use of systematic social observations (SSO) to measure crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) and disorder. To improve knowledge about measurement issues in small area research, SSO is conducted by means of three different methods ...
Published: Sep 06, 2023
Stigmas and taboos surrounding male sexual violence, stating that men cannot be sexually victimized and would not experience many adverse effect as a result, continue to shroud the issue of male sexual victimization (SV). Male victims, therefore, remain under ...
Published: Aug 28, 2023
Sexting concerns the act of sending, receiving, or forwarding sexually explicit messages or photos (i.e., ‘sexts’) through electronic means. When sexts are received or forwarded without the consent of the original sender, this is called non-consensual sexting. Our study set ...
Published: Jul 31, 2023
Aporophobia, the rejection of poor people, is a major social problem with known harmful consequences, especially for the most excluded in our society, i.e., homeless people. However, this phenomenon has been only rarely studied using testable means on the ground. This article ...
Published: Jul 28, 2023
The purpose of this review study is to map the existing evidence on an understanding of poaching and anti-poaching activity patterns in the Horn of Africa. The focus of this review is identifying, quantifying, and summarizing poaching activities at micro-spatial and micro...
Published: Jul 04, 2023
This review study provides a quantitative analysis of co-offending patterns. With a focus on synthesizing existing literature, the review explores the characteristics underlying criminal collaborations. By offering a comprehensive overview of the topic, this systematic review ...
Published: Feb 27, 2023
There are indications that the Belgian police have higher absence rates compared to private sector organizations. To date, no thorough research has been conducted on the scope or nature of the absence rates within the Belgian police. In order to research this matter ...
Published: Feb 13, 2022
Policymakers worldwide took measures to limit the spread of the COVID-19-virus. While these sanitary measures were necessary to fight the spread of the virus, several experts warned for a significant impact on mental health and a potential increase in domestic violence. To study
Published: Dec 09, 2021
We systematically review the effectiveness of police presence. In doing so, we investigate concepts of police presence and differences between reported effects. Using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines and protocols, we syst
Published: Jun 27, 2021
In order to explain how crimes are carried out, and why at a particular place and time and against a specific target, crime studies increasingly harness theory from behavioural ecology, in particular Optimal Foraging Theory (OFT). However, an overview of their main findings ...
Published: Apr 08, 2021
SCAN (Scientific Content Analysis) is an analytic method that claims to detect deception in written statements. Although the validity of SCAN is contested in literature, various (law enforcement) agencies across the globe are trained in using the technique. To date it remains ...
