Criminal Events

The aim is to describe the way different actors behave during potentially criminal events, explain the causes of their behaviour, and clarify the consequences of their behaviour for the outcome of the event. The research of this thematic group is strongly rooted in theories that focus on situational causes of crime. We particularly draw on theories that emphasize causal mechanisms between different types of actions within criminal events, and compare actions of the same kind of actor across different types of events, including script analysis, symbolic interactionalism, routine activity theory, decision-making theories, and micro-sociological theories.

Research topics

The research topics vary with respect to the type of actor (offender, victim, bystander, law enforcement), the type of criminal event (e.g. robbery, street violence, burglary, shoplifting, cybercrime, terrorism, crowd violence, sexual violence, white-collar crime, abuse, bullying), and behavioural sequences (across and within events).

Data sources

The research of this thematic group is informed by multiple data sources, including footage of crimes captured on cameras (e.g. CCTV), police case files, interviews, and time use surveys on smartphones.

Take a look at the website of the Video violence group.