The Research Group Crime & Society (CRiS) is part of the Faculty of Law and Criminology of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. We undertake critical and multidisciplinary research in Youth Criminology, Penology, Urban Criminology, and Policing and Surveillance. CRiS scholarship focuses on the experiences and perceptions of crime control actors and of those subjected to crime control.
Our researchers are committed to knowledge exchange with criminal justice practitioners, policy makers, and research subjects, to create collaborative, timely, and impactful research. We offer an intellectual and collegial academic environment to study crime control. Our research is frequently collaborative; undertaking comparative research projects with international visiting researchers
THE LATEST FROM OUR RESEARCH GROUP
News
Onderzoeker in de kijker - Sofie De Kimpe
Sofie De Kimpe, professor politiestudies, heeft al een indrukwekkende carrière achter de rug en blijft een belangrijke stem in politieonderzoek. We spraken haar over haar favoriete onderzoeksprojecten en haar visie op de toekomst. Hoe ben je in dit vakgebied terechtgekomen? Wat trok je erin aan?
Call for papers - Towards an Anti-Racist Anti-Criminology
In the aftermath of the 2020 #BlackLivesMatter protests, renewed calls to decolonize university curricula took centre stage. This is certainly not the first time that such debates have captured the critical conscience of the criminological imagination.
Women shaping science
đŸ“¸ Discover the photo exhibition featuring twenty portraits of scientists, including CRIS researcher Sofie De Kimpe , captured by photographer Lieve Blancquaert . The exhibition is part of the She Is Science campaign, which aims to highlight and celebrate leading women researchers.
Events
Practical info27/04/2026 - 09:30 - 27/04/2026 - 14:00Research seminar - Stories that matter: research with understudied and overrepresented groups in the criminal justice system
Research seminar
On 27 April (9:30–14:00), we will host a research seminar featuring several guest speakers: Prof. Hilde Tubex (University of Western Australia), Dr. Aurore Vanliefde De Keyser (KU Leuven), Prof. Olivia Nederlandt (UCLouvain) and Dr.
Practical info01/12/2026 - 09:00 - 02/12/2026 - 17:00DIGIPOL - Winter School Call
Doing research on Technology and Policing
Call for applications: DIGIPOL Winter School
Contemporary policing is undergoing profound transformations driven by processes of digitalization.
Practical info08/12/2025 - 12:00 - 09/12/2025 - 13:00Decolonizing Criminology: Promoting South–South Dialogues
Decolonizing Criminology: Promoting South–South Dialogues is a two-day international seminar that invites scholars, students, practitioners, and the wider public to critically examine how criminological knowledge has been historically developed and disseminated, and to r
