Focus topics

Very high political and social demands are placed on the prison system. The call for harsh punishments and trends such as the ‘zero-risk society’ is making the social integration of offenders increasingly difficult. Innovative models are therefore needed for the practice of social work in the penal system and the probation service.

The Institute examines structured interventions for the reintegration of offenders at case level, institutional level and with regard to the social environment and local community. Areas of interest include interprofessional collaboration, interface and transition management, work with relatives and new concepts such as restorative justice.

Many young people find the transition from school to adult and professional life a fragile phase. During the process of forging an identity, it is not uncommon for boundaries to be crossed; delinquent behaviour is therefore particularly common in adolescence. The prevalence and causes of juvenile delinquency are studied at the Institute.

Youth-related crime and violence prevention takes place in traditional fields of social work, including youth and school social work, but also in cooperation with authorities and specialist agencies. Other professional contexts are youth advocacy or social pedagogy in (detention) homes as well as transit and observation centres.

The phenomenon of youth extremism has become more prominent in recent years. A systemic approach is important in preventing and dealing with political and religious extremism at this age. This means observing offenders with regard to their lifeworld relations such as family, school and peers, as well as in a social context.

Cybercrime affects individuals as well as organisations and even entire countries. Cybercrime in the narrower sense is crime against the internet, against information technology systems or data. In a broader sense, cybercrime also includes crimes committed by means of information technology, but which also exist beyond the internet, for example in the form of fraud or abuse. The Institute explores the phenomenology, causes and consequences, as well as prevention and intervention measures associated with digital crime.