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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

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Research Line: Penality and Society
We study penal practices and cultures in prison and in community sanctions, focusing on the experiences of different actors
Research Line: Crime and the City
We explore how urban spaces influence crime, its incidence, prevention, control and punishment.
Research Line:Policing and Surveillance
We focus on how policing practices and cultures are experienced, including surveillance technologies to monitor public spaces
Research Line: Youth Justice Studies
We study responses to deviant acts committed by young people, including their experience of the judicial system