Voor deze aflevering van het estafette-interview spraken Joep Beckers en Anna Merz namens de redactie van Tijdschrift voor Toezicht met Else Bos, sinds 1 juli 2018 toezichtdirecteur en voorzitter toezicht bij De Nederlandsche Bank. Mede naar aanleiding van de suggesties van Monique Verdier, vicevoorzitter in de raad van bestuur en Katja Mur, lid van de raad van bestuur bij de Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens (AP), die we interviewden voor nummer 2020-3 van Tijdschrift voor Toezicht, spraken wij met Else Bos over de belangrijkste uitdagingen voor toezichthouders, de impact van de coronacrisis, duurzaamheid en digitalisering.

Multi-national corporations are increasingly facing attention and disapproval by different actors, including authorities, public and (non-) commercial organizations. Digital globalization and especially social media as a low-cost, highly interactive and multidirectional platform shape a unique context for this rising attention. In the literature, much attention has been devoted to top-down approaches and strategies that corporations use to avoid stigmatization and sanctioning of their behaviour. Reactions to corporate harm are, however, seldom researched from a labelling perspective. As a result, corporations are not considered as objects towards whom labelling is targeted but rather as actors who hamper such processes and who, as moral entrepreneurs, influence which behaviour is labelled deviant. Based on theoretical analysis of literature and case studies, this article will discuss how the process of labelling has changed in light of the digitalized, late-modern society and consequently, how the process should be revisited to be applicable for corporate deviance. Given a diversification of moral entrepreneurs and increasingly dependency of labelling and meaning-making on the online sphere, two new forms of labelling are introduced that specifically target institutions; that is bottom-up and horizontal labelling.

In criminological literature there is an ongoing discussion about the relation between intellectual disability and criminality. Because of differences of definitions and measurement methods prevalence figures may vary. Recent assessment of prevalence in the Netherlands using a valid Dutch screener (the SCIL) reveals a relatively high percentage of people with mild intellectual disability and borderline intelligence in the Dutch criminological system. People with mild intellectual disability and borderline intelligence cannot be considered as belonging to one group. Five typologies with even more subtypes based on mixed characteristics can be distinguished. A need for early detection and personalized interventions is stressed as is treatment based on the specific characteristics of these subtypes.

There is an impressive body of literature dealing with the so-called ‘cruelty link’. Two directions can be distinguished: animal abuse as a part of domestic violence and cruelty against animals as a predictor of a penchant for violence in later life. Related to these topics are a lot of methodological problems, for example regarding research designs, definitions of (domestic) violence and animal abuse, practices of cultural bias and prejudice regarding the position of animals in society and problems regarding the recognition of abuse. This contribution deals further more with the problematic claims of correlation and causation between violence against humans and animals. What is the risk of identifying ‘false positives’, that is making uncritical assumptions and accusations of (a penchant for) violent behaviour based on the (mis)interpretation of certain behaviour against animals?

The notion that animal abuse and domestic violence are related has been existing for centuries. Recent studies in the United States, Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands report evidence for this relation. In the western world, more than 50% of families have pets. They are often valued as members of the family. It is obvious that pets can be victims of family violence as well. The relation between animal abuse and domestic violence has many manifestations. Abused women reported violence against their pets, reported that their children abused the pets. Abused children, especially severely abused and/or sexually abused children, are more often than other children animal abusers. Animal abuse is often related to other violent behaviour or severe criminal acts later in life. Besides, animal abuse is an early diagnostic marker for psychopathology. Animal abuse is always a signal of a problematic situation. A greater awareness of the possible link between animal abuse and domestic violence could contribute to saving men, women, children and animals from violent situations.