Marcelo F Aebi
University of Lausanne, School of Criminal Sciences, Faculty Member
- Marcelo F. Aebi, Ph.D., is Full Professor of Criminology at the School of Criminal Sciences of the University of Laus... moreMarcelo F. Aebi, Ph.D., is Full Professor of Criminology at the School of Criminal Sciences of the University of Lausanne, Switzerland. He is responsible for the Council of Europe Annual Penal Statistics (SPACE), Head of the group of experts that produces the European Sourcebook of Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics, and Executive Secretary of the European Society of Criminology. His main research topics include comparative criminology, prisons, probation, methodology, juvenile delinquency, drugs and crime, and victimization and self-reported delinquency studies. He is author or co-author of more than one hundred and fifty scientific publications in English, French, Spanish, Catalan, Italian, Macedonian, Turkish, and German. He has been a part-time Visiting Professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain, for many years.edit
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
This article reviews key stages in the evolution of self-reported delinquency surveys from the 1940s up to date. From the first delinquency scales to the most sophisticated self-reported surveys, the appearance of new data is paralleled... more
This article reviews key stages in the evolution of self-reported delinquency surveys from the 1940s up to date. From the first delinquency scales to the most sophisticated self-reported surveys, the appearance of new data is paralleled with the challenge of classical criminological theories and the development of alternative explanations. After defining the concepts of reliability and validity, this text presents some of the problems related to these dimensions as well as different ways of testing them in order to evaluate self-reported surveys as indicators of delinquency.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Violence Domestique : prise en charge des violences entre (ex-) partenaires intimes par les autorités de poursuite pénale : l’expérience de Neuchâtel. L’autoperception de victimes de violence conjugale du risque de récidive : un test longitudinal et empirique de sa précision et ses implications p...more
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Crossnational comparisons of crime are usually based on two main types of sources: crime statistics and crime surveys. Provided they use the same questionnaire and the same methodology, crime surveys constitute the best source for... more
Crossnational comparisons of crime are usually based on two main types of sources: crime statistics and crime surveys. Provided they use the same questionnaire and the same methodology, crime surveys constitute the best source for comparisons. Comparisons based on surveys are described in other sections of this book. This chapter is devoted to crossnational comparisons based on official statistics, which include police, prosecution, conviction, and correctional statistics. Because these statistics measure the reaction to crime and not crime itself, comparisons based on them are usually called comparisons of recorded crime. The chapter shows that, as a rule, the main part of the differences in recorded crime rates across countries can be explained by differences in how offences are defined, collected, and archived. It would be a mistake to assume that such differences are real – in other words, that they reflect actual differences in the level of crime from one country. The researcher must keep in mind that, in this particular context, the form is more important than the substance. The chapter concludes that, with completed intentional homicide as a noteworthy exception, official statistics are usually inadequate for comparisons of crime levels across countries; but they can be useful for the study of crime trends.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Este articulo presenta un modelo explicativo de la evolucion de la delincuencia en Europa Occidental en las decadas de 1990 y 2000 basado en la teoria de las actividades cotidianas de Lawrence E. Cohen y Marcus Felson (1979). Segun... more
Este articulo presenta un modelo explicativo de la evolucion de la delincuencia en Europa Occidental en las decadas de 1990 y 2000 basado en la teoria de las actividades cotidianas de Lawrence E. Cohen y Marcus Felson (1979). Segun muestran las estadisticas policiales, judiciales y penitenciarias, y los datos sobre victimizacion, a inicios de la decada de 1990 esta region de Europa experimento un aumento generalizado de todos los delitos y una disminucion de los delitos contra la propiedad y los homicidios, mientras que el resto de delitos violentos y las infracciones en materia de estupefacientes continuaron su tendencia al alza. Para dar explicacion a dichas tendencias se propone un modelo explicativo multifactorial, segun el cual la disminucion de los delitos contra la propiedad se explicaria por el incremento de la seguridad privada y de las medidas de prevencion de robos introducidas en viviendas y comercios, mientras que el aumento de la violencia no letal guardaria relacion con los cambios en el estilo de vida de los jovenes.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
This chapter introduces the available research on long-term crime trends and shows the major role that cross-national comparisons have played since the nineteenth century, revealing that the first researchers were fully aware of such... more
This chapter introduces the available research on long-term crime trends and shows the major role that cross-national comparisons have played since the nineteenth century, revealing that the first researchers were fully aware of such comparisons’ pitfalls. Since then, most research has focused on homicide trends—often used as a proxy for trends in all violent crime—in industrialized Western nations, because data are not widely available for other regions of the world and other types of offenses. Problems related to finding appropriate crime measures and valid denominators for the absolute numbers provided by such measures are also investigated, as are the risks of chronocentrism, parochialism, and causationism. Finally, it cautions that explaining the decrease in Western industrialized countries’ interpersonal violence since the late Middle Ages through the effect of a civilizing process requires overlooking the genocides, mass killings, and war crimes committed in these countries and their former colonies.
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Philosophy and Humanities
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
A recurring question in criminology has always been how the "costs of offending" (the risk of being convicted and sentenced to custody) relate to offending rates. Langan and Farrington's and Cusson's studies have renewed... more
A recurring question in criminology has always been how the "costs of offending" (the risk of being convicted and sentenced to custody) relate to offending rates. Langan and Farrington's and Cusson's studies have renewed interest in this question. Examination of victim surveys and police and court statistics over nearly two decades produces mixed conclusions. Some of the offenses considered (burglary, motor vehicle theft, robbery, assault, rape, and homicide) show substantial variations since 1985 and are better explained by opportunity theories than in terms of changing costs of offending. The odds of an average offender being convicted and imprisoned have, depending on the indicators used, remained stable over time, or changed erratically, in ways that are difficult to relate to crime rates as the "outcome." Crime rates appear to be better explained by changes in routine activities and other opportunities than by deterrence variables.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
The so-called crime drop observed in the United States since the beginning of the 1990s led to an impressive number of publications in which different criminologists provide various and sometimes contradictory explanations for an... more
The so-called crime drop observed in the United States since the beginning of the 1990s led to an impressive number of publications in which different criminologists provide various and sometimes contradictory explanations for an evolution of crime that they had not foreseen. 1 Since 2006, some authors (e.g. van Dijk, 2006; van Dijk, van Kesteren and Smit, 2007; Rosenfeld and Messner, 2009; Farrell et al., 2011) suggest that there is also a crime drop in Europe. However, analyses of victimization studies, police statistics on offences recorded by the police and conviction statistics on persons convicted by the courts show that there is no general crime drop, because property crime and violent crime are following different trends (Aebi and Linde 2010, 2012a). As a consequence, the European debate — summarized by Tonry (2010) — should focus first on establishing the actual evolution of crime trends and, only after that, on providing explanations for that evolution.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Vor zehn Jahren erschien die erste Auflage dieses Lehrbuchs in französischer Sprache. Dank einer günstigen Aufnahme bei den Studierenden und in der Praxis in der Romandie sind seither zwei weitere Auflagen erschienen, wobei die dritte... more
Vor zehn Jahren erschien die erste Auflage dieses Lehrbuchs in französischer Sprache. Dank einer günstigen Aufnahme bei den Studierenden und in der Praxis in der Romandie sind seither zwei weitere Auflagen erschienen, wobei die dritte zugleich den Wechsel zu einer Kollektivurheberschaft des Lausanner Teams brachte.Die vorliegende deutschsprachige Aus gabe ist entstanden im Wunsch, die in diesemBuch von Anfang an gewählte vergleichende Perspektive auch den deutschsprachigen Studierenden näherzubringen. Es geht darum, die Besonderheiten des schweizerischen Strafrechts vor dem Hintergrund teils paralleler, teils aber auch ganz unterschiedlicher Entwicklungen ausserhalb des deutschen Sprachraums, aber auch historischer Kontinuitäten deutlich werden zu lassen und im Lichte des kriminologischenWissensstandes zu würdigen. Die vorliegende Ausgabe basiert auf der dritten Auflage des französischsprachigen Lehrbuchs, wurde aber gründlich überarbeitet und nachgeführt.
Research Interests:
The study presented in this book is a direct response to the needs for defining and registering criminal and judicial data on the European level. Based upon work done by the European Sourcebook experts’ group in creating the European... more
The study presented in this book is a direct response to the needs for defining and registering criminal and judicial data on the European level. Based upon work done by the European Sourcebook experts’ group in creating the European Sourcebook of Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics (ESB), the project intended to improve and complement the standards developed so far for definitions and statistical registration in four fields, in order to contribute to the picture of criminal justice in Europe. It utilized questionnaires filled by an established European network.
Possibilities to improve the offence definitions used so far in the ESB context were explored. Also, further crime types, especially those subject to EU-harmonized definition, were tested and introduced. Based on the results of recent projects of one of the editors (Jörg-Martin Jehle), the prosecution chapter of the ESB questionnaire was changed and expanded. Data collection possibilities regarding compulsory measures in the investigatory stage were tested, and a more sophisticated approach for recording sanctions and measures had been developed, as well as for prison data.
As overarching issues, ways to collect data on pretrial detention and its surrogates and on aliens stemming from EU member states compared to those from other states were sought. The study explored how far national statistics can provide such data and developed a concept for collation on European level. The offence definitions and data collection instruments introduced and revised during the course of this project were tested and most of them were – albeit modified sometimes – included in the 4th edition ESB questionnaire. Thus, the 4th edition ESB is based on a questionnaire developed during this project. The ESB is published in parallel to this book (Aebi et al, European Sourcebook of Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics-2010, 4th edition, The Hague: Boom).
Possibilities to improve the offence definitions used so far in the ESB context were explored. Also, further crime types, especially those subject to EU-harmonized definition, were tested and introduced. Based on the results of recent projects of one of the editors (Jörg-Martin Jehle), the prosecution chapter of the ESB questionnaire was changed and expanded. Data collection possibilities regarding compulsory measures in the investigatory stage were tested, and a more sophisticated approach for recording sanctions and measures had been developed, as well as for prison data.
As overarching issues, ways to collect data on pretrial detention and its surrogates and on aliens stemming from EU member states compared to those from other states were sought. The study explored how far national statistics can provide such data and developed a concept for collation on European level. The offence definitions and data collection instruments introduced and revised during the course of this project were tested and most of them were – albeit modified sometimes – included in the 4th edition ESB questionnaire. Thus, the 4th edition ESB is based on a questionnaire developed during this project. The ESB is published in parallel to this book (Aebi et al, European Sourcebook of Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics-2010, 4th edition, The Hague: Boom).
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
En este libro se aborda el estudio de cuatro manifestaciones delictivas que han cobrado protagonismo en los últimos años: la delincuencia juvenil, la inmigración y la delincuencia, la delincuencia organizada y la violencia de género. El... more
En este libro se aborda el estudio de cuatro manifestaciones delictivas que han cobrado protagonismo en los últimos años: la delincuencia juvenil, la inmigración y la delincuencia, la delincuencia organizada y la violencia de género. El primer capítulo proporciona una introducción al estudio de la delincuencia juvenil, favoreciendo el desarrollo de un razonamiento criminológico que permite abordar los desafíos vinculados a este fenómeno desde una perspectiva científica. El segundo capítulo aborda la integración de los inmigrantes en las sociedades de acogida a partir de una perspectiva histórica y también de una visión realista de la Europa contemporánea. El tercer capítulo analiza el complejo fenómeno de la delincuencia organizada desde tres planos distintos: los factores macrosociales que favorecen su emergencia, los organizacionales que explican la asociación delincuencial, y las circunstancias individuales que conforman el perfil de los miembros. En el último capítulo se identifican las características y los factores de riesgo de la violencia de género, cuya importancia adquirida en la sociedad española ha conllevado el desarrollo de programas de prevención y sensibilización, de asistencia a las víctimas y de tratamiento para los agresores.
Research Interests:
How many inmates are held in European prisons? Among them, how many are women? How many are foreign citizens? How many are not serving a final sentence? How many people enter prison every year, and how long do they remain there? Are there... more
How many inmates are held in European prisons? Among them, how many are women? How many are foreign citizens? How many are not serving a final sentence? How many people enter prison every year, and how long do they remain there? Are there enough places for all of them? What is the ratio of inmates per member of prison staff? How much do prisons cost? If you are looking for the data necessary to provide answers to these and many other similar questions, this is the book for you. The Sourcebook of prison statistics compiles absolute numbers for 30 prison-related measures and computes another 30 indicators which can be used for comparative purposes. The sourcebook should be used together with Volume 1 of the Prisons in Europe 2005-2015 collection, which provides the context and methodology used to produce the data presented here.
Research Interests:
How many inmates are held in European prisons? Among them, how many are women? How many are foreign citizens? How many are not serving a final sentence? How many people enter prison every year, and how long do they remain there? Are there... more
How many inmates are held in European prisons? Among them, how many are women? How many are foreign citizens? How many are not serving a final sentence? How many people enter prison every year, and how long do they remain there? Are there enough places for all of them? What is the ratio of inmates per member of prison staff? How much do prisons cost? The answers to these and many other questions can be found in this volume, which compiles and updates 11 years of the Council of Europe Annual Penal Statistics, better known as the SPACE statistics. The situation in each country is analysed through individual country profiles, which include key facts and graphs covering the years 2005-2015. In addition, a comparative section allows for analysis of the relative position of each country with regard to the other member states of the Council of Europe and of the European Union. This is accompanied by a methodological section, which sets out the main problems related to this type of comparison.
Research Interests:
Is there really an over-representation of foreign citizens in European prisons? Is the presence of foreign inmates comparable across regions and countries of Europe? How can one explain the differences in the trends shown by the absolute... more
Is there really an over-representation of foreign citizens in European prisons? Is the presence of foreign inmates comparable across regions and countries of Europe? How can one explain the differences in the trends shown by the absolute numbers and the percentages of foreign inmates from 2005 to 2015? Do foreign citizens have less access than nationals to alternatives to imprisonment? Do the data available allow the research to establish whether the growth in the use of community sanctions and measures since the 1990s plays a role in the fluctuations observed in the percentage of foreign inmates? The answers to these and many other questions can be found in this book, which compiles and updates a series of specific indicators collected during eleven years through the Council of Europe Annual Penal Statistics (better known as the SPACE statistics), and accompanies the two volumes on Prisons in Europe 2005-2015 published in this collection. The volume includes maps and tables illustrating the state of prison (2005-2015) and probation agencies (2009-2015). In addition, the situation is analyzed through individual country profiles, which include key facts and graphs covering the years 2005 to 2015.