Research Talks previous years
2011
18 October 2011
This research talk was cancelled, it will be rescheduled
Speaker: Levent Altan
Subject: Overview of the 2011 Proposed Directive on minimum standards on the rights, support and protection of victims of crime
Despite various national, EU and international action in favour of victims over the years, across the EU the role and needs of victims in criminal proceedings are still generally not sufficiently addressed and the level of victims’ rights continues to differ significantly.That is why the Commission presented a package of measure to reinforce existing national measures, ensuring that victims of crime are given non-discriminatory minimum rights across the EU, irrespective of their nationality or country of residence.
This presentation will provide an overview of the Victims' Directive, it's development and some of the key principles which have directed current EU action and will direct future action.
Levent Altan has worked in the European Commission as a seconded national expert since September 2009. In his current role, he has led the development of the Commission's package of measures on victims of crime. Prior to this he worked in a range of Ministries in the UK civil service including the Home Office – UK Border Agency (developing the UK's border control strategy), the Cabinet Office (establishing the UK's position on European JHA affairs) and in the Ministry of Justice (focused primarily on EU criminal justice matters).
Speaker: Dennis van Wanrooij
Subject: Legal cosmopolitanism and barriers for the affirmation of sex workers’ rights: Contradictions between theory and practice
Fundamentally, the legal system of international human rights law is focused on the right to protection of human beings, not depending on membership to a state, or specific citizenship. It is an ultimate form of what Hannah Arendt called ‘right to have rights’, based on the fact that human beings are part of the same social community. At the same time, political discourses and increasingly repressive domestic laws and policies have reduced sex workers’ self determination, silenced their voices, and denied their right to rights. In addition, it is well-known that the issue of prostitution is dealt with – on the international level – primarily in terms of fighting trafficking in persons and slavery. Furthermore, in the domestic plane the intrinsic goods of anti-trafficking laws have inspired a new anti-prostitution law, which drastically increases sex workers vulnerabilities.
Considering the diversity of ways that one can engage in prostitution, variations of working styles and settings, as well as the diversity of violence and power, it seems very odd from a legal point of view that this is not taken in account when we get to the point of establishing norms. Although sex workers are not all victims, common ideas, beliefs and stereotypes on sex work are still present in society and most norms addressing sex work, and thus constantly reflect their power in national trends of regulations.
The main focus of this presentation will be to describe the difficulties in reconciling universal principals of human rights, autonomy and freedom, with concrete particular/domestic laws, that define sex work – in many ways – as crime, or sex workers – in many ways – as helpless victims. Furthermore, this presentation intends to reveal some data collected by Tampep International Foundation in a European Mapping project regarding sex work and its implications, as well as give a panorama of the Dutch legal framework on prostitution and make an assessment of the impacts of the actual new prostitution law to be voted by the Senate within this year.
Dennis van Wanrooij is currently finishing his Master in International and European Public Law, Human Rights specialization at Tilburg University and works for Tampep, a European Network for HIV/STI Prevention and Health Promotion among Migrant Sex Workers.
17 May 2011
Speaker: Lydia Pomp
Subject: To brake or accelerate… The influence of social networks on criminal behavior
Little is known about the social networks of forensic psychiatric patients. Clearly, such information is of great importance for risk assessment and –management. Patients have an active role in structuring their social networks; They can influence their access to victims, drugs, weapons, “bad friends”, etc. A change in social and personal circumstances in the future may cause behavioral changes that affect the risk (and severity) of recidivism.
This presentation focuses on the characteristics of the social networks of 40 forensic psychiatric patients before and during the time of their offense. These characteristics include size and structure of the social network, social support and the positions of victims and network members with potential risk- or protective factors. The 40 patients were interviewed using a structured Forensic Social Network Analysis (FSNA) questionnaire. The FSNA is an instrument to systematically chart the relationships and personal networks of forensic psychiatric patients in the context of their individual risk behavior.
Lydia Pomp is currently working as a PhD student at the FPC Dr. S van Mesdag, Stenden University and Intervict, Tilburg University. The subject of her project is Forensic Social Network Analysis. The aim of the project is to provide additional information for risk assessment/ management purposes.
19 April 2011
Speaker: Lorena Sosa
Subject: The application of intersectionality to address violence against women: connections with and implications for the international human rights system
The influence of factors such as women's ethnicity, class, migrant status, age, religion, sexual orientation, etc. have a complex impact on the forms of violence that women suffer and the way they experience it. All different forms and manifestations of violence against women (VAW) are shaped by cultural norms and social dynamics within societies. These interlocking structures that perpetuate inequality constitute a complex system. For that reason, the use of an intersectional approach in order to address violence against women, capturing the complexity of inequality and discrimination by focusing on the interlocking social structures that perpetuate inequality, has been gradually encouraged by the UN human rights system. Recommendations made by the international human rights bodies to adopt intersectionality in the analysis of VAW are plentiful.
Yet, ’intersectionality’ seems far from being a univocal concept. Questions abound, particularly about the assumptions behind the notion, its role in research, and also, its expected contribution to the current human rights approach to VAW.
Lorena Sosa, PhD candidate, will present her project, focusing on the notion of intersectionality in connection to human rights views of gender inequality and multiple-discrimination.
24 March 2011
Speaker: Bas van der Leij
Subject: The relationship between Peace and Justice in the context of violent conflicts
Bas van der Leij & Raphaela M. Carrière.
In armed conflict situations, like in Uganda, Darfur, and earlier in the former Yugoslavia, guerilla and terror tactics often predominate. Civilians can become victims of atrocities, displacement and deprivation. The immediate need for peace seems to outweigh the calls for justice. But the price for signing a peace deal often includes immunity for rebel leaders from the charges made against them by war crime tribunals such as the International Criminal Court (ICC). The question put forward is often: can the International Community in those circumstances justifiably reject trading peace for impunity and thereby leave civilians subject to even more war crimes and crimes against humanity?
We argue to answer that question not with a simple yes or no, but to regard peace as a social construct in developmental time, mediated by processes in an intermediate time scale and by events in real time, including violations of justice. As such, each injustice is a building block of a new state not necessarily peaceful. Moreover, in periods of social and/or political instability, the mere violation of one person’s sense of justice, or the neglect of a victim’s need to see justice done, may in fact be sufficient triggers to destabilize any ongoing peace process. Regarded from this perspective, peace and justice dynamically interact together along with many other factors, in a developmental process towards some kind of equilibrium.
At the Intervict lunch meeting of March this topic will be addressed by Bas van der Leij.
Bas van der Leij, Ph.D. is currently working as a Research Manager at the Scientific Research and Documentation Centre (WODC) of the Ministry of Justice. One of his fields of interests is resolution of violent conflicts.
15 February 2011
Speaker: Antony Pemberton
Subject: Gluttons for injustice: viewing Western society through the prism of anger rather than fear
The experience of injustice and being wronged is a central feature of victimology. Victimization by crime in particular involves the examination of the consequences of experiencing injustice, which therefore is a central focus of Intervict’s research program.
The presenter will argue that a host of developments can be linked to a growth of the importance of interpersonal injustice in Western society, from individualism and secularism, the epidemics of narcissism and loneliness, to the increased emphasis on human rights and identity politics and neoliberal economic ideology. Moreover misfortune and bad luck are increasingly colonized by morality and viewed and experienced as injustices in their own right. In a sense then the presenter will maintain that inhabitants of Western societies have become gluttons for injustice.
Recent developments in moral psychology stress the importance of emotional reactions to injustice. The presenter will outline the central features of the emotion most associated with the experience of interpersonal injustice, namely anger, and its impact on subsequent judgments, cognitions and behavior.
Taken together, anger at the experience of injustice can provide relevant insights into a variety of societal phenomena and sociological theories. The presenter will discuss the relevance to punitive developments in criminal justice and the emergence of (extreme) right-wing populism, and will offer some critical comments on Furedi’s Culture of Fear and Beck’s Risk society.
11 January 2011
Speaker: Peter van der Velden
Subject: A view on disasters: Traumatic stress, or trauma and stress?
Nowadays, there is a general tendency that collective horrifying and drastic events are predominantly viewed as traumatic events. As a result, there is a strong focus on interventions aimed at reducing event- or exposure-related mental health problems and especially PTSD symptomatology, such as psycho-education and ‘psychological first aid’. However, disasters are accompanied by many non-traumatic pre-, peri- and post-event stressors and needs that affect mental health and PTSD symptomatology. In addition, in general only a minority will develop a event-related mental disorder (PTSD or depression). Therefore, post-disaster mental health care programs should not only target these stressors and needs but -as part of crisis-management- start with exploring and addressing these issues. Debates about serious human rights violations and international crimes committed in the past usually take a start during times of political transition, i.e. when societies are moving away from authoritarianism. At that time, the new political elites are openly confronted with the fundamental question on how to address the heavy burden of their dark past.
Peter G. van der Velden is a health-psychologist and research manager at the Institute for Psychotrauma, Diemen, the Netherlands. Since July 2010, he is appointed as professor ‘Disasters, calamities and mental health’ at INTERVICT/Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands.
2010
9 December 2010
Guest speaker: Stephan Parmentier
Subject: Reparations for victims of international crimes. The case of Bosnia through the eyes of the population.
Debates about serious human rights violations and international crimes committed in the past usually take a start during times of political transition, i.e. when societies are moving away from authoritarianism. At that time, the new political elites are openly confronted with the fundamental question on how to address the heavy burden of their dark past.
The issue of ‘dealing with the past’ or ‘transitional justice’ is most often managed by elites, national and international, and the views and expectations of the local populations are rarely taken into account. Yet population-based researches can yield interesting insights into strategies and mechanisms for dealing with the crimes of the past and for reconstructing the future. This talk deals with some findings of a population-based survey conducted in Bosnia in 2006 with funds from the K.U. Leuven Research Fund. It focuses in particular on the issue of reparations for victims of international crimes, its content and its consequences.
Stephan Parmentier studied law, political science and sociology at the K.U. Leuven (Belgium) and sociology and conflict resolution at the Humphrey Institute for Public Affairs of the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities (U.S.A.). He is a Professor of Sociology of Crime, Law and Human Rights at the Faculty of Law of the K.U. Leuven since 1997.
12 October 2010
Guest speaker: Natalia Perez Rivas
14 September 2010
Guest speaker: Francesca Capone
Subject: The right to reparation for war-affected children
Reparations have primarily strived to give victims a sense of recognition in order to help them to face their trauma and overcome it. In particular, when we talk about child-victims, the need to recognize them as a separate unit became essential. The children affected by human rights violations have to be recognized as individuals, who are entitled to demand and obtain specific forms of reparations, but they are oftenincluded in a broader groupof vulnerable people and they don’t gain an incisive support. According to the Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation for Victims of Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law adopted in 2005 by the General Assembly, the victims should be provided with full and effective reparations, appropriate to the gravity of the violations and the circumstances of each case. In particular the presentation will be focused on the rehabilitation of the child-victims which includes medical and psychological care as well as legal and social services. Although the Principles don’t specifically mention the access to education and the need to assure the possibility to attend primary and secondary school for all the children - direct or indirect victims of the occurred violations - it is universally recognized that this must be a top priority in every reparations program and it is probably the most effective form of rehabilitation and reintegration for child-victims.
Francesca Capone is an Italian Ph.D. candidate in International Human Rights Law from the Sant’ Anna School of Advanced Studies, in Pisa. She earned a degree in Law in 2008 at the University of Naples, Federico II and in January 2009 she started her Ph.D. Her research concerns the right to reparation for victims of gross human rights violations, with a special focus on child-victim.
8 June 2010
Guest speaker: Dr. G.S. Bajpai
Subject: Victim in Different Criminal procedure Models
Traditionally, there have been two basic models of criminal procedure in vogue: the models of due process and of crime control. These models were proposed by Herbert Packer. Apparently, the victim was never in focus in these models as the emphasis in these procedures was on controlling crime and protecting the accused person. However, an examination into the status of victims in these models could provide us a lot of insight. Subsequently, certain other criminal procedure models were suggested which mainly include punitive and non punitive models, victim satisfaction model etc.
This presentation will focus upon the changing status of a crime victim in these models of criminal procedure and criminal justice. An attempt will also be made in this talk to stress the shifts that the criminal justice systems have taken in the recent past vis-a-vis victims of crime.
Dr. G. S. Bajpai is currently Professor & Chairperson at the Centre for Criminal Justice Administration, National Law Institute University, Bhopal (MP), India. His doctoral work is in the area of victimology and criminal justice administration. As visiting researcher he will be at INTERVICT from 25 May till June 12 working on a Study of Crime Victims and Criminal Justice Policies in The Netherlands (with special reference to victim assistance in cases of violence and sexual offences).
25 May 2010
INTERVICT speaker: José Mulder
Subject: How to compensate a victim's losses?
If victims suffer harm due to the harmful actions of others, it is often difficult for them to receive reparation from the person responsible. Going to court can take years, or, like in many cases of crime, the offender might never get caught or simply lacks the financial means to pay for caused losses.
Victims of antitrust infringements, like consumers who paid a too high a price for a beer due to the Dutch beer cartel, even have bigger problems when it comes to receiving damages. They have to prove that firms deliberately broke the law by colluding and moreover, that there is a casual relationship between the harm they suffered and that infringement of antitrust law: an extremely difficult thing to do. As a result, hardly any victim of antitrust infringements ever goes to court to claim damages.
Since the European Commission wants every victim to be compensated fully, the Commission has proposed several specific policy measures. For instance, all Member States should adopt a uniform limitation period of 5 years and cost rebates should be granted to victims in order to encourage them to go to court.
Surprisingly enough, though, it is hardly clear which consumers are harmed by an infringement of antitrust rules and how their losses could be compensated.
José Mulder, therefore, wrote a paper on this topic. During the Intervict lunch meeting of May 25th she will present this paper and explain how economists look at the losses that victims incur, and which methods are available to assess the appropriate amount of compensation.
JoséMulder (1978) studied economics at the University of Amsterdam, where she graduated in industrial organization. After working for three years as a consultant at SEO Economic Research she started as a PhD at Intervict in 2006. José will finish her thesis in the upcoming summer.
4 May 2010
INTERVICT speaker: Karlijn F. Kuijpers
Subject: Risk assessment of short term revictimization of intimate partner violence
The last decades have shown a growing number of studies on factors that put couples at risk of experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV), with the majority of studies focusing on risk factors related to perpetrators of abuse. But what do we know about victim related factors that may play a role in experiencing episodes of IPV? What victim characteristics constitute a risk for revictimization? Although a considerable number of studies with a cross sectional design attempted to give an answer to these questions, little prospective research has been conducted in this area until now. However, knowledge about these prospective risk and protective factors may be effective in empowering victims of IPV, increasing their resilience and decreasing their risk of future IPV. In this study, we aim to investigate a number of risk factors for revictimization of IPV, using a prospective design. After the initial assessment of our victim sample, follow-up questionnaires were administered after 2 months and again after 6 months. During this presentation results of the first follow-up after 2 months will be presented. The focus will be on attachment styles, how they relate to revictimization of IPV, and what psychological variables might influence this relationship. Possible explanations and practical implications of the findings will be discussed.
As PhD at INTERVICT Karlijn Kuijpers is involved in research into domestic violence or partner violence, and more specifically in risk assessment and risk factors that are relevant for this form of violence. Furthermore she has conducted research into the needs of victims of crime.
15 April 2010
INTERVICT speaker: Dr. Anna Baldry
Subject: Are victims of intimate partner violence aware of the risk of rivictimisation?
Dr. Anna Baldry will address the issue of risk assessment in intimate partner violence that includes a new instrument called ISA (Increasing Self Awareness). This self-reported version of the risk assessment allows women to assess their own risk so they can take actions towards decreasing revictimisation. ISA has been adopted in other EU countries.
The aim of the presentation is to show whether victims are effective assessors of their own situation. Do they tend to overestimate or underestimate their risk? And how does this relate to revictimisation?
This study collected data from a sample of 100 victims recruited in women shelters in Italy. The victims had to fill in a questionnaire measuring the intimate relationship based on the Ontario Domestic Assault Risk Assessment (ODARA) measure, (Hilton, 2009), as well as measures on the psychological status (TSQ, Bruin, 2001). Women were also asked to rate the level of satisfaction with their intimate relationship and assess risk of revictimisation. Dr. Baldry will present the results in a critical way with regard to the debate on risk assessment approaches, their efficacy and use with reference to the use of these procedures.
Anna Baldry is a senior researcher at Intervict, she is specialized in risk assessment of intimate partner violence.
18 March 2010
Guest speaker: Marie-José Enders-Slegers
Subject: Animal abuse and domestic violence
The notion that animal abuse and domestic violence are related exists many centuries. Recent studies in the United States, U.K., Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands report evidence for this relation. In western world, more than 50% of families have pets. They are often valued as members of the family. It is obvious that pets can be victims of family violence as well.
The relation between animal abuse and domestic violence has many manifestations. Abused women reported violence against their pets, reported that their children abused the pets. Abused children, especially severely abused and/or sexually abused children, are more often than other children animal abusers. Animal abuse is often related to other violent behaviour or severe criminal acts later in life. Besides, animal abuse is an early diagnostic marker for psychopathology. Animal abuse is always a signal of a problematic situation.
Marie-José Enders-Slegers (1945), a researcher at Utrecht University, is specialized in human-animal relationships. She conducted research on the influence of pet ownership on the health of older people. She also researched care farming and the role of animals in nursing homes. Her most recent research is 'circle of violence, the connection between animal cruelty and domesticviolence.
2009
8 November 2009
Guest speaker: Jolande Withuis. Jolande Withuis is a sociologist who works at the Netherlands Institute for War Documentation (NIOD). She has received several awards for her books, like the 'Jaarprijs van de Nederlands Kring voor Wetenschap der Politiek' for her doctoral thesis (1991), and the NWO Eureka Book prize for her book 'Na het kamp' (2006).
Subject: The politics of war trauma
In the summer of 2009 several people filed an insurance claim for the trauma they suffered due to the clips they watched on YouTube of the incident that happened in Apeldoorn on Queensday, April 30th. The clips showed how Karst T. drove through the crowd before killing himself by hitting a city monument. Insurance claims like these, where the medical recognition of post traumatic stress disorder is being (ab)used, support the hypothesis of Jolande Withuis that Holland has become a 'trauma-culture'. In today's presentation she will expound her hypothesis and link it to how Holland dealt with the trauma of World War II.
15 September 2009
Guest speaker: Ben Vollaard.
Ben Vollaard is an economist who studies the economics of crime. He did his PhD at the renown RAND Graduate School (2005) and since 2008 he is affiliated to the Tilburg Law and Economics Center (TILEC) and also to INTERVICT.
Tiltle: Being safe without effort: the case for built-in security
Private crime prevention measures work, as long as potential victims do not have to change their behavior, because they won't. If the government is to stimulate the use of self-protective measures against crime, then incorporating security features into homes and vehicles is likely to have a much larger effect than any publicity campaign or prevention advice project will everachieve. We illustrate the case for built-in security by evaluating theeffect of a change in Dutch building regulations in 1999, stipulating that all new-built houses have to havehigh-quality locksand burglary-proof window anddoorframes. We findthe regulation to have reduced the burglary risk in new-bglary risk in new-built homes by 50 percent. We do not find any evidence for displacement of crime.
2 July 2009
Guest speaker: Rianne de Kleine
Subject: Trauma and Tonic Immobillity
During this meeting Rianne de Kleine, researcher at the Overwaal Centre for Anxiety Disorders, elaborates on the subject of Trauma and Immobility. Tonic immobility is a basic defense strategy which has not been studied in depth in humans. Data suggest that it may be a relatively frequent phenomenon in victims of rape and sexual abuse, but its occurrence has not been systematically explored in other types of trauma.
11 June 2009
INTERVICT speakers: Hannah Hoffenkamp and Anneke Tooten
Subject: The effectiveness of Video Interaction Guidance in premature infants: a multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial
Hannah Hoffenkamp and Anneke Tooten, PhD researchers at INTERVICT, elaborate on their prospective study to examine the effect of Video-Interaction Guidance (VIG). VIG on premature infants is a preventive intervention aimed at maintaining parental skills and positive communication to lower the risk of child abuse in later live.
Previous studies consistently found a high incidence of neonatal problems, premature births and low birth weights in abused children. This has led to the hypothesis that these problems place a child at a higher risk for maltreatment and neglect.
One of the explanations proposed for the relation between child fitness, adverse parenting and negative infant outcomes, is a disturbance in bonding between
the parent and infant. A disturbed bonding process may result in adverse parental interactive behaviour; which constitutes a risk-factor for negative infant outcomes.
12 May 2009
INTERVICT speaker: Suzan van der Aa
Subject: Stalking and the criteria for criminalization
The criminalization of stalking was not self-evident. Crime is only what we define as such and especially in the case of stalking there was much debate on the necessity of drafting a specific anti-stalking provision. Many countries, for example, have decided not to criminalize stalking at all.
In order to help answer the question what behaviour needs to be made liable to punishment, several legal theorist have developed general criteria for criminalization. One of them is Theo de Roos (1987), who included in his 'criminal-political verification scheme for the primary criminalization' six criteria on the basis of which an intended penalization can be tested on its legitimacy.
By using the De Roos-criteria as a guideline Suzan van der Aa will present some of the highlights of her thesis.
9 April 2009
INTERVICT speaker: John van Kesteren
Subject: Public Attitudes and Sentencing Policies Across the World
Many Western countries have experienced a boom in prisoners
rates, characterised as 'carceral hyperinflation' or 'new punitiveness'. Politicians and opinion makers assume that this reflects the demand of the public for more severe sentencing. During this meeting an analysis is presented of the data on the attitudes of the population towards punishment from over thirty different countries taken from the International Crime Victim Surveys of 2004/2005.
12 March 2009
Subject: A time for reflection
During the 28th INTERVICT lunch meeting the topic of discussion will be the institute itself. INTERVICT is in its 4th year now and as it is growing rapidly, this seems an appropriate moment for contemplation.
In order to come to a discussion on the scope of the institute and how every Intervicter contributes to it, Jan van Dijk, Marc Groenhuijsen and Frans Willem Winkel will open the lunch meeting w
ith a short presentation. Each of them will talk 10 minutes about how he sees Intervict, how his research programme fits INTERVICT's mission statement, how the research programmes complement and might contradict each other and last but not least, what he thinks should be the future research themes.
After the programme coordinators, the floor is open for anyone who has a comment, a question or an inspiring thought regarding the institute INTERVICT.
12 February 2009
Guest speaker: Martin Gramatikov and Malini Laxminarayan, both members of the Measuring Access to Justice study group, will speak on "Measuring Access to Justice for Victims of Crime'. The research investigates the experiences of victims with the criminal justice system on a comparative basis between countries.
13 January 2009
INTERVICT speaker: Maarten Kunst
Subject: Multidisciplinary research in victimology: how can scholars with different scientific backgrounds be brought together?
The presentation will be a preliminary and personal attempt to show that many steps taken in social-scientific studies have equivalents in legal research and that several methodological issues, such as representativeness, validity and reliability, apply to both approaches. Examples from studies performed within INTERVICT will be used to clarify and support statements.
2008
2 December 2008
Guest speaker: INTERVICT's visiting researcher Javier Martín-Peña
Short biography of Javier Martín-Peña (Ph.D. candidate in the Social Psychology Department, University of Barcelona (Spain).
He is currently working on the harassment and psychological violence of the ETA Terrorist Network in the Basque Country. He is a researcher in the project 'Analysis and assessment of the control strategies, manipulation and psychological violence used to the exclusion or subjection to one's will' coordinated by Dr. Álvaro Rodríguez-Carballeira.
9 October 2008
INTERVICT speakers: Renske van Schijndel, Antony Pemberton
Subject: Abstract: Confidentiality in victim-offender mediation
Mediation in penal matters is defined as a process whereby the victim and the offender can be enabled, voluntarily, to participate actively in the resolution of matters arising from the crime through the help of an impartial third party or mediator. It is generally assumed that the process of victim-offender-mediation is facilitated by adopting the governing standard of confidentiality. Accordingly, all those involved in mediation (i.e. the victim, the offender, the mediator, and trusted third parties) are supposed to keep quiet about things said and done during this process. This general ban on disclosure has raised the question whether exceptions should be made to the requirement of confidentiality.
2 September 2008
INTERVICT speaker: Steve Kuchta
Subject: Abstract: Examining Environmental Justice through Catastrophes in Europe
The field of Environmental Justice came to Europe after a short incubation period followed by rapid growth in the United States. The literature here has also grown rapidly, but in different directions than that in the US. The movement overall faces now the problem of having too diffuse of a focus, and an inability to create a stable and cohesive core as many disciplines weigh in on the myriad of problems and concepts that have been included under the heading "Environmental Justice." Topics as diverse in scope and science as global climate change, indoor air quality, municipal services provision, urban planning and disaster relief responses all find a home under this one keyword.
With such broad topics, each sharing parts of the environmental justice picture, about the only firm and consistent thread is that of human security in a risky world. As that is, fortunately, also a major pillar of the INTERVICT research agenda, this talk aims first to introduce the state of the field to the broad base of researchers here, and second to contribute to the literature with new research on the nexus of environmental regulations and catastrophes in Europe. Specifically, in this talk we will address the Enschede Fireworks tragedy as an instance of European environmental injustice. Our conclusions from these investigations have the added benefit of suggesting the theme of environmental human rights as a unifying topic able to encompass all the phenomena of environmental justice research.
20 May 2008
INTERVICT speaker: Nicole van der Meulen
Subject: Who's Responsible? - Identity Theft in Contemporary Society
10 April 2008
Guest speaker: professor Allan V. Horwitz
Subject: Creating an Epidemic of Major Depression: How Psychiatry Transformed Natural Sorrow into a Mental Disorder
Before 1980, depression was a relatively rare condition. Since that time, rates of depression have vastly increased, far more people are being treated for depression, prescriptions for anti-depressant medication have soared, and extensive programs have developed to get people to recognize and seek help for their depressed conditions. This talk explores some of the reasons behind this transformation and, in particular, changes in the way that psychiatry has come to define depressive mental disorder since 1980.
Short biography of Allan V. Horwitz (Ph.D., Yale University. Professor II of Sociology at Rutgers University, New Brunswick)
Prof. Horwitz's major interests are in the field of the sociology of mental illness and deviance and social control. He is the author of The Social Control of Mental Illness (Academic Press), The Logic of Social Control (Plenum), and Creating Mental Illness (University of Chicago Press). He is also the co-editor of A Handbook for the Study of the Sociology of Mental Health: Social Contexts, Theories, and Systems (Cambridge University Press). His articles have appeared in a number of journals including Journal of Health and Social Behavior, Social Forces, Social Problems, and Journal of Marriage and the Family. Professor Horwitz is also Co-Director of the Rutgers Postdoctoral Training Program in Mental
Health Services. He is currently engaged in research on the sociology of
depression and the impact of social roles on mental health.
12 February 2008
Guest speaker: Eva Alisic
Subject:Traumatic exposure and posttraumatic reactions in Dutch children
American studies report substantial exposure to traumatic events such as violence, serious accidents, disasters, and traumatic loss in children; even up to 68% of the American youth appears to be exposed at least once at age 16 (see e.g. Copeland, Keeler, Angold, & Costello, 2007). Does the same apply to Dutch children? And how do they respond to trauma? This presentation concerns the preliminary results of an epidemiological study in 1770 primary school children in the Netherlands. The main findings regarding exposure, posttraumatic stress, posttraumatic growth, and quality of life will be presented.
17 January 2008
INTERVICT speaker: Professor Theo de Roos
Subject: Influence of the victim on criminal trial proceedings - a comparative study
11 December 2007
INTERVICT speaker: Felix Ndahinda
Subject: The Identity Crisis and Democratic Deficit in D.R. Congo Conflict:
What Role for the ICC?
6 September 2007
INTERVICT speakers: Dr. Rianne Letschert and Mr Antony Pemberton MA.
Subject: Victims of Terrorism; an analysis of their specific needs and translation into (quasi)-legal standards.
8 May 2007
Guest speaker: Dr. Anna Baldry
Subject: Risk assessment approach for the prevention of recidivism of intimate partner violence (IPV)
12 April 2007
Guest speaker: Prof. Dr. Marianne Junger, Department of Developmental Psychology Faculty of Social Sciences, Utrecht University.
Title: Child physical abuse, prevention and therapy.
13 March 2007
Guest speaker: Prof.dr. W.H.G. Wolters, Clinical Psychologist, Psychotherapist
Subject: Fantasie en werkelijkheid rond de zaak Natascha Kampusch.
8 February 2007
Guest speaker: Mr Arnold A.P. van Emmerik PhD, Leiden University
Subject: Writing assignments: therapeutic and scientific applications
An increasing body of literature supports theefficacy of writing
assignments in alleviating PTSD and other psychological and somatic
symptoms. In addition, an as yet limited number of studies have attempted to
investigate the mechanisms underlying (recovery from) psychopathology by
systematically studying word use of clinical populations. In this two-part
presentation, findings from studies in both areas are discussed. First,
results are presented from a randomized controlled trial comparing the
efficacy of brief cognitive behavior therapy and structured writing therapy
in preventing chronic PTSD. Second, recent findings from a systematic study
of word use are discussed that are thought to reflect cognitive
vulnerability to depression.
9 January 2007
INTERVICT speaker: Antony Pemberton MA
Subject: Empowering Victimology: Positive psychology and victims of crime.
12 December 2006
Guest Speaker: Dr. Karin Ammerlaan on 'Victims of disasters and government compensation'.
14 November 2006
Guest speaker: Dr. Karin Wittebrood gave a presentation titled: "Victims of Crime"
A sizeable proportion of the Dutch population is confronted each year with serious or less serious forms of crime: in 2004 3.5 million citizens were the victims of 4.6 million offences. A broad overview was given of the position of these victims in the different phases of the criminal justice system, basedon a recent publication by the author.
13 June 2006
INTERVICT spreaker: Sandra Reynaers, PhD-researcher, spoke to us about her research. The presentation was titled "Victim Rights and the Role of the Public Prosecution Service: On Paper and in Practice".
9 May 2006
Prof. Corien Prins, professor at the Tilburg Institute for Law, Technoloy and Society, gave a presention about "Victims of Identity Theft".
11 April 2006
Guest speaker: Prof. Ad J.J.M. Vingerhoets, professor by special appointment at the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, gave a presention about "Victimization and Health: a stress theoretical perspective".
14 March 2006
Guest speaker: Prof. Nancy Welsh talked to us on the subject of "Mediation in the U.S., with a Special Focus on the Unique Elements of Victim-Offender Mediation".
14 February 2006
INTERVICT speaker: Prof. Jan van Dijk spoke to us about "The International Crime Victims Survey: new data, new frontiers".
10 January 2006
With reference to the INTERVICT International Expert Meeting held from 12-15 December 2005 in Tilburg, Willem van Genugten gave a presentation which was titled "Towards a convention on Victims' Rights".
10 November 2005
INTERVICT speaker: Frans Willem Winkel talked to us about facilitated access to victim support. His presentation was titled "Risk assessment as an indispensable keystone".
13 October 2005
Guest speaker: Maurits Barendrecht held a presentation on the following topic 'Negotiation Theory Applied: Creating A System For Settlement Of Personal Injury Claims Attuned To The Needs Of Victims'.
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