Illegal weed cultivation is increasingly perceived as an important societal problem. Most of existing research in this area focuses on the criminal organisations active on the cannabis market and the criminal profits that are gained here. The current study however focuses on the actors at the bottom of the cannabis market – the home growers – and aims at answering the following research question: what factors influence the chance of encountering an illegal weed cultivation at a certain residential address? In this study, the risk and protecting factors are taken into consideration on both the individual level (e.g. family composition and financial position of residents) and the neighbourhood level (e.g. social cohesion, physical disorganisation, level of criminality in a certain neighbourhood). In the current study, data of 401 illegal hemp cultivation sites discovered between 2011 and 2016 in homes in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, were analysed. Data from various quantitative data sources – like municipal data (BRP and data from the Social Domain) and data from the municipal neighbourhood monitors – were combined and analysed through a multilevel logistic regression. The results suggest that the likelihood of an illegal weed cultivation site is most prominently influenced by individual factors. Being married for instance seems to decrease the risk, whereas being divorced seems to increase the risk. The housing type also turns out to be of influence. On a neighbourhood level, physical disorganisation and the presence of other hemp cultivation sites in the neighbourhood are the only predictors for hemp cultivation. The results are discussed in the light of criminological theories regarding participation in crime, using the theoretical concepts motivation, opportunity, and control.

Internationally, research on the experiences of white-collar offenders with the criminal justice system and the consequences of prosecution and conviction is scarce. Such research becomes more relevant, as the response to white-collar crime has become more punitive and more offenders are convicted. This paper presents the experiences of the co-author as a convicted white-collar offender as an autobiographical case-study. In this cases study, the consequences and experiences during four phases (investigation, prosecution, sentence-execution and post-sentencing) are analysed on four live-domains: health, private life, social life and professional life. Such an approach could be a blueprint for further and more systematic study of the experiences with and consequences of criminal justice for white-collar offenders. Such study can shed light on the effects and actual achievement of goals of punishment for white-collar crime.

Fermentation production processes for biofuel lead to sustainable energy, but the fermenters can also be used to dispose illegal wastes. Although it’s known that the fermentation business is susceptible for illegal behavior, so far little empirical research is carried out about the modus operandi and criminogenic factors. In this study a crime script analysis (CSA) is conducted to map the criminal process. This analysis shows that the true nature of the illegal waste is concealed by trading without or with falsified (transport) documents and illegal blending. Legal traders operate illegal and form the crucial connection between disposers and end receivers. Criminogenic factors, such as complexity of regulation and inspection, European policy differences and the lack of profitability of the fermenters, make the branch vulnerable for criminal behavior. Intervention options are formulated per phase of the criminal process and aim at prevention or increasing the chance being caught.

The Netherlands are considered as an important hub for the illicit trade in species of endangered birds protected by the CITES convention. In this article the authors analyze five substantial criminal cases from three different perspectives. First, from a criminal business perspective, the cases illustrate that logistics vary from relatively simple to highly complex, but always require in-depth knowledge of the animals as well as regulations, to be able to keep the birds alive to make a profit, and to smuggle them to the Netherlands, respectively. Second, from a network perspective, it is clear that those who are involved in the illicit trade – suppliers, traders and customers – are part of a closed and often long-lasting group of people who know the trade. Finally, from a green criminological perspective, the authors conclude that harms of the illicit trade in protected birds are mentioned only to a limited extent in court rulings, contrary to what one might expect based on social construction theories of criminalization and sentencing.

This paper empirically investigates whether the Flemish local income tax base yield in 306 Flemish municipalities is sensitive to changes in the local crime level between 2000 and 2014. There are two underlying assumptions. First, in a Tiebout world, rational voters holding the local government accountable for the safety of its citizens move when the local level of security becomes too greatly alienated from what they want it to be (first assumption). If migration is due to crime, the wealthier citizens are expected to move first. Consequently, the average income per capita and thus the income distribution will be affected, which in turn will influence the local income tax base yield (second assumption). By confirming both assumptions, evidence is presented for a relation between changes in local crime rates and the income tax base yield of Flemish municipalities, occurring through household mobility.

Criminal groups have traditionally been the focus of criminological research because of the collective dimension of many criminal activities or deviance. However, what constitutes a ‘criminal group’ or how specific criminal groups, like gangs, should be defined, remains open for discussion in the scientific literature. This introductory article highlights a number of recent developments illustrating the blurring boundaries between various criminal groups as defined by both insiders and outsiders. In addition, it suggests that the rise of social media and smartphones is changing the structure and dynamics of criminal groups. Future research should focus on how these (new) criminal groups originate, develop and function, but should also address the role of the group in criminal activities.

This paper describes the results of twelve criminal investigations into criminal activities of hardcore supporters of a Dutch soccer club. The information from these criminal investigations consists of among other 74,246 transcribed, wiretapped telephone conversations and 643 pages with transcribed, secretly recorded conversations in cars (between March 2009 and June 2013). The organization and execution of these criminal activities (particularly large-scale drugs trade and extortion) is described within the context of the daily activities of these hardcore supporters. This context consists of regularly visiting soccer games (in the Netherlands and abroad), bars and the supportershome, and the subculture of hooliganism. The results show a criminal group using the opportunity structures related to hooliganism for carrying out criminal activities.

This study contains a qualitative framing analysis of outlaw motor clubs in Dutch newspaper articles. These clubs appear in the news as a source for positive framing to counterbalance the prevailing organized crime frame. The study shows with what rhetorical means club members are framed and how news media balance a criminal and a non-criminal image. In news articles club members refer to ethical norms and group values, and appear to employ mitigation strategies which take the hard edges off the frame and simultaneously increase their credibility.

In this article notions from literature on covert and illegal networks are applied to business cartels. Comparable to most criminal networks, cartel participants need to communicate in order to coordinate their activities, whilst under the risk of getting caught. Previous studies however show cartels can remain hidden from outsiders for long periods of time. Based on an analysis of fourteen Dutch cartel cases, this article addresses the question how cartels can remain hidden from outsiders for long periods of time. The analysis shows cartel participants communicate predominantly centralized and frequent. Moreover, the results show that not concealment but social embeddedness provides a strong explanation for the longevity of secrecy regarding cartels.

Eyetracking enabled the authors to study eye movements of 23 participants who looked at crime scene photographs. The authors measured the emotions elicited by the photographs, as well as perceptions of seriousness and the sentence that participants would give the perpetrator of the crime. Also, individual differences in disgust sensitivity were taken into account. Results show a positive relationship between disgust sensitivity and both the proportion of fixations as well as the number of fixations on gruesome aspects of the photos (the blood and the wound), emotion ratings of the photographs, perceptions of seriousness, and the sentence given. Implications, limitations, and future directions of the research are discussed.

The retail sale of cannabis in coffee shops is tolerated in the Netherlands, provided that certain criteria are met. Two criteria were added in 2012: the private club and the residence criterion. The plan was to implement them first in the southern provinces and later in the other provinces. This created an opportunity for a natural experiment. In an experimental group of seven municipalities in the south and a matched comparison group of municipalities in the other part of the country pre- and post-measurements were conducted. The size of the drug tourism, the number of visits to coffee shops, the illegal cannabis consumer market and the nuisance experienced in the direct vicinity of coffee shops was assessed. Robust changes occurred in the experimental group after implementation of the new criteria. Initial differences between the groups and variation in local implementation caused doubts about drawing causal conclusions. This article analyzes whether such conclusions can be drawn. We conclude that due to the broad design of the research it appears that the observed changes can be attributed to the new criteria despite the methodological shortcomings in the study.

In the past decades, organised crime internationalised rapidly as a result of increasing mobility and ‘open’ borders. At the same time developments in information and communication technology have led to modernisation of existing types of crime and the introduction of novel ones. Finally, criminals have benefited from increasingly diversified migration streams. In the Netherlands and Belgium, organised crime appeared on the agenda in the 1990s. For a long time emphasis was on ‘trade crimes’ i.e. trafficking in drugs and humans, as well as human smuggling, followed by the production of synthetic drugs and cannabis. More recently the Low Countries are confronted by more visible manifestations of organised crime, for example rapid growth of outlaw motorcycle gangs. Criminals also try to utilise their capital to invest in businesses and real estate and to influence local politics.

The concept of undermining or subversive crime seems to be linked undistinguishably to organized crime and both terms are sometimes used synonymously. Definitions of the phenomenon are sometimes based on its effects, while others have their focus on its manifestations. Discussion on the underlying causes is lacking. Regularly, activities that actually do not relate to undermining are labeled as such.
This reflection critically examines and evaluates the concept of undermining. The central question is what has to be understood under the concept of undermining and, above all: what not? The phenomenon is further explored, with the aim of stimulating scientific debate and empirical research. The role of the government and other institutions in facilitating undermining is explicitly discussed as well as the possibilities to strengthen their resilience.

Since mid-January 2015, nearly 300 soldiers were mobilized by the Belgian government to ensure the safety of public places in Liège, Brussels, Antwerp and Verviers, providing assistance to local and federal police forces. This provoked intense political and public debate about the issue of the provision of security in a democratic society, raising questions such as: which are the goals of security policies and what kind of risks are they supposed to address? Which control instances should be responsible for the provision of security and how should they operate? The central issue, here, is whether either civilian or military actors and practices are the most appropriate for surveillance and policing tasks. As a matter of fact, this discussion goes back to the Belgian independence and has marked the entire history of the Belgian police system, since at the heart of it, there has long been a military police force, the gendarmerie. In this contribution, we examine how the militarization of security and policing tasks evolved across the twentieth century in Belgium, which socio-political conditions shaped these evolutions, and what kind of arguments pro or contra military approaches have been advanced in this process.

Within the field of criminology, marriage and labour are important determinants for the decline in criminal behavior. However, these factors are seldom researched in the context of historical criminology. By conducting research into crimes against property in Rotterdam, those brought to the Rotterdam correctional court in the 1812-1820 period, this paper attempts to shed light on the topic. Our findings show that a majority of the delinquents in question were employed, while a minority of those female delinquents were married, yet also in gainful employment in most cases. Male adolescents, who had just entered the labour market, were the largest group of male delinquents. The female population of delinquents consisted mostly of women who were close to marriageable age. Thus, it is suggested that labour and marriage supplied insufficient economical stability to inhibit criminal behavior during the 1812-1820 period.

The files of the women in the State Labor Institution who submitted a request for reprieve showed that they were well aware of the prevailing discourses. They referred for example to their indispensability at home as mother and spouse. In case they were in the Institution for the first time and had no ‘unfavorable’ reputation they mainly succeeded. The main consideration to grant a pardon was the prospect of maintenance to prevent recurrence and consequently nuisance for society. Those who were seriously ill were pardoned because they could not work, the youngest residents to save them from the bad influence of their older inmates. Nevertheless many returned in the State Labor Institution.

This contribution focuses on the manner in which between 1880 and 1940 private actors in the port of Antwerp, whether or not in cooperation with the public authorities, interpreted crime and crime control in terms of risk management, loss prevention and situational crime prevention through a strict economic approach, as opposed to the then dominant institutionalized and criminological discourse. Whereas crime control by the major criminal justice institutions put an emphasis on the biological, psychological and sociological characteristics of the offender, measures taken by maritime, industrial and commercial organizations were aimed exclusively at manipulating the temporal and spatial dimensions of the opportunity structures in which criminal activities, which posed a threat to the economic profitability, could develop.