Biographies of ‘criminals’ are an immensely popular genre. As ‘true crime’ stories they are generally found on the shelves of fiction literature. In this article the authors examine their cultural criminological significance. First, they examine what makes a ‘good’ biography, analyse how biographical material is used in the work of people like Robert Park and his Chicago School, Michel Foucault and Pierre Bourdieu and indeed historians. Then the authors list different traditions of criminal biographies. They conclude by arguing that ‘good biographies’, i.e. biographies that are both sufficiently emic and offer enough context information, have a lot to offer, because they show ‘the other side’ of criminology, provide information that cannot be obtained through strictly scientific methods and counter the reductionist images prevailing in the discipline.

The central question of this article is whether biographies can be a source for criminological research on white-collar crime and how they can contribute to the explanation of white-collar crime. To answer this question, 35 Dutch biographies were studied. Following the legal ambiguities of white-collar crime, not all of these biographies are about criminal offences. And following the dominant anthropomorphic approach to corporate crime, some of these are corporate biographies. Many biographies confirm current criminological explanations of the causation of white-collar crime. Yet, biographies also offer additional insights, for instance about the causal relevance of the private life of white-collar offenders.

In the Netherlands whistle-blowing regulations are still unbalanced and ineffective in the protection of whistle-blowers and the prevention of misconduct at work. This article focuses on the question how whistle-blowing behaviour is influenced by the type and severity of the wrongdoing. The study also examines to whom employees would report (internally and/or externally), if they would report anonymously, and why they would do that or not. As far as the authors know, this is one of the first studies on whistle-blowing behaviour that systematically investigates the characteristics of the wrongdoing by using vignettes. In a two by two design, two kinds of wrongdoing (safety problem or embezzlement) at two levels of severity are plotted against each other. When confronted with severe wrongdoing, respondents intend to blow the whistle more often (externally) than with mild wrongdoing. Of the four cases, the difference between mild and severe embezzlement is most pronounced. Internally, a difference is found between the vignettes in reporting anonymously. Most respondents prefer to report to their direct supervisor, especially when a mild safety problem occurs. With severe embezzlement however, respondents prefer to report to a confidential adviser within the company. Outside the company, reporting to one’s trade union is most popular. Nearly all respondents would only report externally after an internal report has not yielded any results, or they would not report outside the company at all. They often argue that it is an internal problem and that the company could be harmed if the wrongdoing would be disclosed. This argument is used in all vignettes. Anonymity is still considered important by the majority of the respondents. It is recommended in this article that policymakers specify whistle-blowing regulations that are adaptable to the specific characteristics of the wrongdoing and the reporting employee(s).

Knowledge about the effects of the architectural design of prisons is limited. This large-scale study examined the relation between prison design and inmates’ perceptions of their conditions of confinement. Data were used from the Prison Project, in which inmates held in all Dutch remand centers were interviewed (N=1,715). Multilevel analyses showed that the architectural design was related to inmates’ perspective: prisoners in panopticon designs experienced their autonomy, safety and relationships with staff less positive than prisoners in other designs. Specific characteristics of the prison design, like more gallery levels and a higher rate of double bunking, were also associated with less positive inmates’ perceptions.

This article examines the silence of control agents. It is often said that control agents as representatives of the risk society are obsessed with control activities and fact-finding, and that rule breakers are regularly exposed by negative publicity. The author takes the contrary position that even major cases demonstrate the persistence of silence on the part of control agents. He distinguishes between two types of silence: denial and secrecy. Denial means that control agents saw nothing while they could have discovered wrongdoing. He points to the fact that this denial in the face of knowledge is the result of sociological ambivalence: control agents are often forced to reconcile conflicting interests, which supersede the importance of supervision. The article shows that secrecy plays an important role in trust relationships between control agents and the objects of their supervision. Secrecy enables control agents to better obtain information. In effect, with regard to the supply of information and the scrutiny of the objects under supervision, control agents are dependent on the cooperativeness of the objects of supervision. These days, much emphasis is placed on breaking the walls of silence. Perpetrators, victims and witnesses, as well as control agents, are being encouraged to break the silence through the use of star witness arrangements, whistleblower arrangements, witness protection, and reporting centres. But is this effective? The author suggests that maintaining secrecy is essential and that those measures limit the space for control agents to develop trust relationships with the objects of supervision, and thereby the opportunity to engage in fact-finding.

Much of developmental and life course criminological research addresses either the onset and escalation of antisocial behavior in childhood and adolescence, or the desistance from crime during the adult years. Far less attention has been paid to the years in which adolescents first make the transition to adulthood. Over the last 50 years due to increased educational demands this transition period has become prolonged and increasingly deinstitutionalized, resulting in a new life stage denoted as the emerging adult period. This introductory paper describes the ways in which this newly formed life stage between ages 18 and 28 is relevant for criminology, questions our knowledge on criminal career development during this period and explores new research avenues that may contribute to a full-fledged criminology of the emerging adulthood.

The link between being employed and delinquent behaviour is complex. This article examines to what extent having a job, the commitment to that job and the future prospects of that job are related to delinquency. We use data from the Utrecht Study of Adolescent Development (USAD), a six-year, three-wave longitudinal study, pertaining to a general population sample of 669 young adults between the ages of 18 and 28. Having a job is associated with an increase in delinquency for 18 and 19 year old males. The results for subsequent ages show a trend towards a delinquency decreasing effect at subsequent ages. The effect of work characteristics – commitment, future prospects – is less clear.

Since November 2009, the regional police of Groningen facilitated their community officers with Twitter. According to the principles of community policing, they are enabled to shorten the distance between the police and citizens by giving them a direct connection. Such a connection should stimulate interaction, while at the same time it should make people feel more safe. In addition, Twitter also creates possibilities for the police to be transparent. Sharing of information should alter citizens’ perception towards the police.
A comparison has been made, by using an online questionnaire, between followers and two kinds of non-followers. The effects of following twittering community officers have been demonstrated by using statistical analyses, taking into account relevant control variables. On the basis of these analyses it has been demonstrated that following a twittering community officer did not positively or negatively alter the perception of safety of their followers. However, an enhanced information position has made followers much more aware of local disorder and crime. Thanks to shared information about police actions to sustain and improve local safety and livability, followers’ perception of safety has not been altered negatively.
Followers’ perception towards the police organization has been positively altered, thanks to the twittering community officers. Especially the sharing of information and involving citizens into local policing helps the police to alter the perception of citizens towards their organization. In addition, it has been shown that followers’ willingness to report has been improved. Thanks to the ease of use of Twitter and the shortened distance between the police and citizens, followers do frequently contact the police or a community officer to share some information, or to report some crime or disorder. However, it has been shown that Twitter should just be presented as complementary to existing ways to contact the police.

The number of homicides in the Netherlands has been stable for some time but decreased over the last few years. The aim of this study is first, to describe the recent trends in homicide in the Netherlands. Second, we aim to explain the reasons for this recent drop in homicide by using data from the Dutch Homicide Monitor that includes all homicides in the period 1992-2009. Findings suggest that the drop in homicide could be explained by a combination of factors, including change in situational characteristics, change in social cohesion and change in the degree of economic deprivation.