Criminology
The field of Criminology examines the causes, correlates, and consequences of crime within and across societies. Research in this field covers several broad themes such as the assessment of social and developmental influences on crime over the life course, the understanding of spatial, temporal, and online patterns of crime, and the evaluation of the effects of criminal justice policies on illegal and attitudinal events.
To investigate these themes, we employ rigorous methods and innovative data, including prospective longitudinal surveys, natural language processing techniques, ecological snapshots, and mechanically located and daily data on illegal events. This research field maintains close ties with the Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement and, in particular, with the Evidence-Based Policing programme.
Examples of our research
Online hate directed at politicians
An increasing number of politicians receive violent threats. What is the exact nature and scope of online hatred against politicians?
A global analysis of the impact of COVID-19 stay-at-home restrictions on crime
An examination on the extent to which stay-at-home restrictions in 27 cities in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia were associated with a change in levels of six types of police-recorded crime.