Relational Perspectives in Criminological Research in Germany, Austria and Switzerland: A Snapshot of Current Trends

Abstract

‘Why network research?’: that was the title given to a conference organised by the Schader-Stiftung and the German Association for Network Research (DGNet). Hosted in the German city of Darmstadt in early March 2020, the meeting saw an impressive range of topics discussed over just under 80 speaking slots. With the exception of a presentation delivered by an interdisciplinary team from Heidelberg University titled ‘Network research and terrorism prevention’ [Netzwerkforschung und Terrorismusprävention], criminological themes were not covered – or at least did not appear in the published programme. By the same token, talks referencing network research were also few and far between at the 16th Conference of the Society of Criminology, which took place in Vienna last year. In German, Austrian and Swiss criminology, the relationship between established criminology and network research seems akin to how some would relate to a new neighbour: you have spotted each other a few times from afar, but little else. Roughly two and half years ago, this state of affairs gave rise to the idea of taking action to improve the communication between the German-speaking criminology community and existing networks of criminological research. The approach is concerned with providing both criminological researchers and practitioners with relevant subject-specific information concerning methods and their prevalence. This issue of KrimOJ is one of the outcomes of these endeavours and I would like to express my gratitude to all those who have contributed.