Key research themes
1. How do foundational legal principles shape the normative framework and interpretation of criminal conduct?
This theme investigates the foundational principles underpinning criminal law, focusing on how they regulate the legal definition, interpretation, and adjudication of criminal conduct. It addresses the normative tension between efficiency, security, legality, and human dignity, and explores the roles principles like legality (nullum crimen sine lege), respect for human dignity, and security in social life play in criminal law’s conceptualization and application.
2. What psychological and sociological individual characteristics are associated with criminal conduct, and how do personality traits influence criminal behavior?
This research theme examines the intersection of individual psychological traits and social/environmental factors that predispose or contribute to criminal conduct. It prioritizes empirical analyses of personality traits, psychological disorders such as psychopathy, and cognitive behavioral patterns, relating these to the propensity for criminality, aggression, and recidivism. The theme also reflects on how such traits interact with social contexts to manifest maladaptive and antisocial behaviors.
3. How do social environmental factors and community dynamics influence the occurrence and distribution of criminal conduct?
This theme explores ecological and community-level explanations for crime, emphasizing social disorganization, neighborhood dynamics, and collective efficacy as key determinants of crime concentration and variation. It investigates how social inequalities, spatial segregation, and state presence or absence shape crime patterns, and underscores sociological and ecological criminology approaches that inform public policy design for crime prevention.