Since the publication of a special issue in TvC (the Dutch Journal of Criminology) on the spatial distribution of crime, about fifteen years ago, a vast number of developments have been observed in the field of social ecology and environmental criminology. During this period many studies have been undertaken in the Netherlands and Belgium. However, there still is room for progress, e.g. through the study of new contexts beyond the traditional boundaries of residential neighbourhoods and through the use of promising new methodologies and technological developments. This special issue provides some examples of such innovative research on environmental influences on crime. In this introductory article the authors provide an overview of the background of the theme, and discuss recent theoretical and methodological developments. They move on to discuss contemporary studies that have been carried out in the Netherlands and Belgium, and outline some desirable and necessary future developments. Finally, the authors provide the reader with an overview of the other contributions to this special issue.

Lifestyle Theory and Routine Activity Theory are used to explain female adolescent victimization of sexual harassment on the internet. Girls completed a questionnaire on the internet about their experiences with these events. Girls’ lifestyle had a strong influence on risk of victimization of sexual harassment on the internet. A risky lifestyle outside the internet (especially having sexual intercourse with many partners) increased chances of victimization on the internet by almost 2.5 times for these girls. Routine activities on the internet did not have a significant influence.

The backgrounds of the female vagabonds and beggars at the end of the 19th century show that contrary to their male counterparts, these females originated almost exclusively from the lower echelons of society. Their professions and those of their parents and husbands were low and ill-paid. Disease was prevalent, mortality was high and many of them had physical or psychological problems. Most of them were single and 25 percent had children out of wedlock. 20 Percent was convicted for mostly minor crimes. Because of their behaviour it is likely that they were not accepted by their family and received no support from the church or other institutions for relief of the poor. To beg and get convicted to RWI-placement may have been their only remaining survival strategy once they were old and ill.

This special issue focuses on the role of sex/gender in Dutch and Belgian criminological and penological research and theory. This introductory article draws the history of thought and research within Dutch-language criminology and explores international developments, in particular the influence of feminist critique on theory and research.This framework serves the positioning of the other contributions, on the one hand research exploring the differences in crime between men and women and on the other hand empirical and theoretical articles focusing on (the social construction of) gender. Finally some innovative methodological findings will be discussed, also with regard to future criminological research.

This article presents an overview of the main determinants of radicalization and terrorism. Experienced discrimination plays an important role, and can be seen as threatening. This could amplify the importance of ideology and religious convictions, and these both unify the group and direct the behavior of the group. Perceived threats also result in emphasizing group identity and increases the cohesiveness of the threatened group. This may lead to polarization between groups and radicalization. This radicalization is also affected by cognitions, such as perceived inequity and injustice, as well as emotions such as anger and contempt. In a later phase of radicalization group processes, such as groupthink, and support from the wider social group may further strengthen radicalization. Justification processes, like dehumanizing the opponent, are also likely to play a role. Finally, the transition from radicalization to terrorism is discussed.

Filicide, the murder of a child by a parent, is a dramatic event. The gravity increases when the perpetrator resorts to committing or attempting suicide. It is assessed to what extent filicide-(para)suicides can primarily be understood as homicidal or suicidal behaviour, or as a separate category of lethal violence. Parents committing filicide-parasuicide differ from filicidal parents and other suicidal parents in sociodemographic, individual and offence-related characteristics. Filicide-(para)suicide seem to constitute a category of lethal violence, different from both filicides and parasuicides.