Issue 2/2023

Content

Full Paper

Zeitenwende – auch in der Drogenpolitik? (German)

Turning point – also in drug policy?

Lorenz Böllinger

The current debate about the legalization of Cannabis demands a complex interdisciplinary analysis of the failure and societal damage of overall drug prohibition. The conclusion of an underlying societal and cultural conflict is sketched out. A brief overview of possible regulatory solutions for psychotropic substances is given.

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Über den Zusammenhang von borders und boundaries – ein Beispiel von der deutsch-polnischen Grenze (German)

On the connection between borders and boundaries – an example from the German-Polish border

Sarah Kleinmann

The article provides insight into an empirical cultural studies study on the German-Polish border. The focus is on narratives and practices on crime and deviance – at present and in their historical dimension. The interim findings allow statements to be made that today’s narratives and practices are older than the current course of the border. For example, they are connected to National Socialist perspectives and also go back to socialist policies and the changing border regime over the decades. It is also important to emphasize the spatial attribution of alleged threats, which are repeatedly interpreted as coming ‘from the outside’.

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„Wir haben hauptsächlich Bildungsbürgertum“ – Der Zugang zu Polizeibeschwerdestellen in Deutschland (German)

“We mainly have an educated middle class” – Access to police complaints bodies in Germany

Marius Kühne

In recent years, numerous German states (Länder) have established police complaints offices in their ministries of interior or as a delegate of the state assemblies. However, the threshold for access to these positions has not been systematically surveyed. In the present study, the access was operationalized based on existing research findings and compared with existing practices based on interviews with employees of the complaints offices. It turned out that all of the complaints offices examined had deficits in their design. Some of these can be traced back to legal requirements, but often also to established administrative practice.

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Research Reports

Das Projekt „Kollektivphänomene im digitalen Raum“. Zugleich ein Einblick in mögliche Methoden der Auswertung von Daten des sozialen Netzwerks Twitter (German)

The Project “Collective Phenomena in Digital Space” At the same time, an insight into possible methods of evaluating data from the social network Twitter

Amina Hoppe

The progress of digitalisation enables new forms of communication. A considerable number of people take part in public discussions and use social digital space to make emotional, critical statements, including attacks against third parties. The DFG-funded project “Collective phenomena of the digital space” explores these phenomena focusing on contents, participants, harmfulness und legal issues. This article provides an overview on the used data set, methods, and a first glimpse on results of a social network analysis.

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„Du bist hier anders, egal ob du einen deutschen Pass hast!“ Eine empirische Untersuchung zu Racial Profiling aus der Perspektive von Betroffenen (German)

“You are different here, no matter if you have a German passport!” An empirical study on racial profiling from the perspective of those affected

Lucas Bellmann

Racial profiling in police practice has increasingly been the subject of social and academic debate in Germany in recent years. Often, the perspective of the police dominates, while the experiences of those affected have been scientifically examined only in rudimentary form. Against this background, the research report provides insights into the experiences of those affected on the basis of a qualitative research project.

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Discussion Paper

Über oder mit „Verurteilten“ sprechen? − Möglichkeiten und Grenzen einer „Convict Criminology“ in Deutschland (German)

Talking about or with “convicts”? – Possibilities and limits of a “Convict Criminology” in Germany

Christine Graebsch & Julian Knop

While the academic discipline of Convict Criminology has become increasingly established internationally over the past 25 years, it has remained largely unnoticed within Criminology in Germany. This article therefore aims to introduce Convict Criminology to a German audience by outlining its theoretical and historical foundations as well as developments to date. In addition, its (possible) significance for the German context will be discussed and similar developments will be highlighted.

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In Discussion

Convict Criminology

Jeffrey Ian Ross & Christine Graebsch

Twenty years have passed since the publication of Convict Criminology by Jeffrey Ian Ross and Stephen Richards (2003: Belmont). Meanwhile Convict Criminology (CC) has become an important perspective in the scholarly field of international critical criminology. The collection of essays edited by Jeffrey Ian Ross and Francesca Vianello “Convict Criminology for the Future” (2021: Abingdon) indicates that CC has been referred to and accepted as a meaningful approach to criminological research in English-speaking, as well as some other (European) countries. Curiously, it does not appear as if German criminologists have formally considered or adopted the CC approach. Thus, on October 10, 2022 a symposium took place at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Dortmund. Present at this event was Jeffrey Ian Ross. During the discussions, panelists noted that although there are numerous ongoing activities subsumed by CC that occur in Germany, the CC approach is not formally integrated into German criminological discourse. Presenters offered reasons why this situation exists. In particular, even though there are a few previously convicted Germans who write about crime, criminal justice and corrections, they are usually not academically trained, do not possess a doctorate, nor are they professors. Three major initiatives in this respect presented at the symposium. First, the Prison Archive (a university-attached civil society organisation of professors, lawyers and students) advises prisoners about their rights and uses their answers for understanding their experiences. Another project from the realm of arts and politics (not academia) working in cooperation with a prisoner presented. However, the project that probably comes closest to the ideas of CC is a university course (similar to the popular Inside-Out program) in which prisoners and outside students study together. Building on the discussions during the 2022 symposium, Christine Graebsch and Jeffrey Ian Ross held the following email-conversation about CC.

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Book Review

Karl F. Schumann: Experimente contra Kriminalität. 14 wissenschaftliche Abenteuer (Gaby Temme)

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