Criminology has traditionally focused on urban areas where crime visibly concentrates. However, since the 1990s, attention for ‘rural criminology’ has steadily increased. First, rural areas are confronted with partly different and less visible crime problems, such as environmental crimes. Second, public actors such as enforcement and other agencies are less present and ‘available’ in rural areas, and people on average trust the government less to provide support when necessary. This chronicle presents an overview of international and Dutch research in the context of rural criminology. The paper addresses cultural differences between urban and rural areas, high-volume crimes, gender-related violence, alcohol and drug abuse, environmental crime, and enforcement in rural areas.

The maxim ‘law in books and law in action’ relays an implicit dichotomy, and though the constitutive nature of law is nowadays commonly professed, the reflex remains to use law in books as an autonomous starting point. Law however, it is argued in this article, has a storyline that commences before its institutional formalisation. Law as ‘a continuous process of becoming’ encompasses both law in books and law in action, and law in action encompasses timelines both before and after the formal coming about of law. To fully understand law, it is necessary to understand the entire storyline of law. Qualitative studies in law and society are well equipped to offer valuable insights on the facets of law outside the books. The insights are not additional to doctrinal understanding, but part and parcel of it. To illustrate this, an ethnographic case study of local bylaws regulating an ethnically diverse public space of everyday life is expanded upon. The case study is used to demonstrate the insights qualitative data yields with regard to the dynamics in which law comes about, and how these dynamics continue for law in action after law has made the books. This particular case study moreover exemplifies how law is one of many truths in the context in which it operates, and how formalised law is reflective of the power constellations that have brought it forth.

Recent figures indicate that certain drug markets, or at least parts of it, shift from the Netherlands to Belgium. However, it is still unclear whether it is a displacement of some parts of the illicit drug markets or whether it should be seen as a diversification of certain parts of some illicit drug markets in terms of spreading of risks and taking profit of new opportunities. In this respect, this article contributes to an ongoing research (DISMARK) by providing an overview of drug policy measures most recently taken by the Netherlands, from a Belgian point of view, and by trying to link these developments to drug-related trends in Belgium. It is clear that both countries will have to invest in a common approach of their common drug problems. However, it is not yet possible to draw any profound conclusions on the actual displacement of illicit drug markets.

In contrast with the critical, innovative ideas developed between the 1960s and the 1980s regarding the way we deal with illegal drugs in our societies, the current dominant approaches frame the issue of drugs as a matter of crime, public order, and control. Pleasurable substances have always existed and always will, and so the efforts to cope with them. However, we witness today remarkable developments at local, national and international levels in the fields of drug policies (on cannabis for example), drug trafficking (new routes, new actors) and drug use (new substances, new drug cultures), all of which deserve our attention and push us to think beyond the repressive paradigm. This contribution, which also serves as an introduction for this special issue of ToCC on drugs, aims to present an overview of the main developments taking place, and challenges ahead, within the three above-mentioned fields. There are new markets and trends in the use of legal and illegal pleasurable substances, particularly regarding synthetic drugs (amphetamines, methamphetamines and new psychoactive substances or NPS), tobacco and alcohol. Illegal drugs are supplied from changing countries and through new routes, while retailing increasingly takes place through the so-called cryptomarkets (online). Effective policies are rendered impossible by the fundamental repression paradox: the more intensive and effective the repression, the larger the profits of drug traffickers and the balloon effects (displacement). Despite the harms and negative effects of repressive policies have extensively been documented, a societal debate towards the regulation of illegal drugs is hindered by the use of false dichotomies or presuppositions, by the use of ethical or moral appeals, or by lack of political will. Also the debate in the media is static, superficial and full of clichés. Scientific research on drugs also follows specific agendas and it is focussed on particular aspects of the problem. Changes to end the ‘war on drugs’, certainly regarding cannabis, are however underway in many places at local and national level (Uruguay, Canada, US, Spain, etc.), this despite UN bureaucracies and international conventions that fiercely resist those changes.

GHB is an anaesthetic that in Netherlands since the 1990s is used as a drug by various groups. Although GHB is often defined as a ‘party drug’, particularly in rural areas it is also used in street cultures. GHB is mainly used recreationally, but a minority uses the drug frequently and/or becomes addicted. GHB use and associated problems are disproportionately spread across the Netherlands and are concentrated in certain rural areas (‘trouble spots’), especially in low SES villages or neighbourhoods. Predominantly based on qualitative research, this article describes supply and use of GHB in rural ‘trouble spots’. The profile of experienced current GHB users in rural areas is characterized by a wide age range, a low level of education, often multiple psychosocial problems and poly drug use. They are almost exclusively ‘white’, in majority male users, of whom a large part has been arrested on several occasions. From a supply perspective, GHB could spread quickly because of the short distribution chain, the limited social distance between dealers and users, as well as the closeness an reticence of user groups. Even though as a drug GHB is very different from methamphetamine, there are striking similarities in set and setting characteristics between rural GHB use in the Netherlands and rural methamphetamine use in the US.

The Dutch prosecutor’s office has set itself the goal of contributing to a safer and just society. This article investigates how a more proactive and innovative approach to the sanctioning of crimes can help towards realizing this goal. The authors take a close look at which types of sanctions could be ‘employed’ for this purpose, and when and how they ought to be executed, in the light of moral retributive and utilitarian theories on punishment. Specifically, the article considers community-sentencing punishments – punishments that are executed locally and in a way that is connected to context (perpetrator, neighbourhood) within which the crime was committed. The authors conclude that a visible connection between the crime and the punishment is vital to achieve the goals set out by the prosecutor’s office. However, at the same time various features of the execution of the punishment need to be considered in order to reach the right effect. This article does not purport to give a single answer these issues, but aspires to indicate where there is unexplored potential in the way community sentences are executed, and hopes to give a framework of what needs to be considered in order to do so effectively.

Honour based violence has attracted a great deal of attention in recent years in the Dutch public debate. However, given that honour can be damaged and restored in many ways, defining this kind of violence is rather difficult. The term honour based violence is an umbrella concept. This article explains how, within this concept, the relationship between religion and violence in the name of honour is understood.

This article is based on a research in which we are looking for exemplary urban professionals who seem to be successful in pursuing the social goals they set together with their partners. In urban disadvantaged neighbourhoods, it is not always the standard procedure that gets things done. In the Netherlands decades of urban renewal in its various forms have not solved problems permanently. This does not mean that success is never attained. What seems to have helped in some cases is the presence of a type of practitioner who goes beyond standard procedure. These are professionals, as the ‘casting cop’ we introduce in this article, who do not give up and who are able to succeed where others have failed. Most likely these are experienced practitioners who learned how to cope. Most likely they are actors who inspire others.What we ask is how these practitioners in urban districts do their job in controversial, politically sensitive policy processes that might develop in unintended and surprising ways. In other words we have as a central question: through what ways of working and relating do exemplary urban practitioner (try to) get things done?The professionals we call exemplary are not always taking the common routes to realize their goals. They will not automatically follow the routines of problem solving and because of that they can make a difference. They are critical about mainstream practices and try to find solutions starting from the perspectives of citizens. When we talk about ‘ways of working and relating’ we refer to the qualities these professionals put to use in the planning and decision making processes of urban renewal. It has to do with personal qualities like attitude and experience, but also with strategic skills such as networking with policy partners. ‘Getting things done’ means solving problems or better stated exploiting opportunities. More broadly is their aim to transform what is called ‘urban problem districts’ into ‘livable neighborhoods’.

The introduction and fast growing popularity of electronic dance music has strongly influenced the spread of so-called party drugs in Amsterdam. Trends in substances use in Amsterdam's nightlife have been monitored systematically with ‘Antenna’, combining qualitative and quantitative methods. Ecstasy remained the most popular stimulant drug, but since the late 1990s it had to compete with cocaine, and to a lesser extent with amphetamine. In the past decade, GHB and ketamine also gained popularity among clubbers and pub-goers. However, the vast majority does not take illicit drugs while going out at night. Alcohol remains by far the most popular substance, and has become even more important in the past decade.

Not everyone using alcohol turns aggressive. The effect of a substance like alcohol works differently for different individuals. This is not only due to the substance itself, but also to the drinker's attitude, state of mind and personality, as well as the physical, social and cultural settings in which drinking occurs. The relation between alcohol consumption and aggression is therefore a complex one. Moreover alcohol consumption often takes place in settings and situations where other aggression stimulating factors are present. This article explores the relation between alcohol and aggression on the basis of existing literature. Attention goes to the effects of the substance itself, the drinker and the context in which the drinking takes place.

Rape drugs (or drink spiking) discourse reflects gender stereotypes in a much more differentiated way than previous studies suppose. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of news items and online discussions proved stereotypes of ideal female victims and male perpetrators to be most prominent in news media. Postings to online bulletin boards were more skeptical about the alleged victims’ innocence and truthfulness. Studies in this area that focus on news media and institutional discourse overestimate the predominance of the ideal victim stereotype. In order to correct this bias, the authors urge criminologists to be more attentive to the relevance and power of informal crime stories and discussions, particularly those appearing in social media.