Projects / Programmes
Social control, criminal justice system, violence and the prevention of victimizations in the context of high technology market society
January 1, 2022
- December 31, 2027
| Code |
Science |
Field |
Subfield |
| 5.07.00 |
Social sciences |
Criminology and social work |
|
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| 5.04 |
Social Sciences |
Sociology |
criminology, structural violence, crimes of the powerful, war, criminal justice system, automation, social control, surveillance, victimology
Data for the last 5 years (citations for the last 10 years) on
May 1, 2024;
A3 for period
2018-2022
| Database |
Linked records |
Citations |
Pure citations |
Average pure citations |
| WoS |
73 |
305 |
285 |
3.9 |
| Scopus |
73 |
433 |
412 |
5.64 |
Researchers (20)
Organisations (1)
Abstract
The overall objective of this ongoing interdisciplinary research program is to gather new empirical data and explore relevant theoretical concepts in emerging pertinent issues in criminology and criminal justice. The research is sectioned into four work packages. The first work package aims to critically explore how various interconnected forms of violence - for example, state violence, corporate violence, symbolic violence - are used to maintain class, gender, and racial inequalities; reproduce the conditions of production; and suppress resistance to neoliberal capitalism. Moreover, we aim to explore how the neoliberal ideology has transformed subjectivity by emphasising the idea of an atomised individual and by taking over control of his/her mind and body. Finally, we want to explore the role of the powerful in maintaining and developing this ideology. The second work package examines recent changes in the criminal justice system, particularly changes occurring at the intersection between law and other fields such as behavioural science, neuroscience, and linguistics. We want to provide new insights into how those fields of inquiry have changed how we understand how criminal justice works and how we think about its fundamental notions. For example, we want to focus on how criminal justice interacts with psychology and behavioural sciences to examine the psychological underpinnings of criminal justice decision-making. We also want to explore how neuroscience has redrawn some of the critical tenets of criminal justice and discuss the role of language in criminal justice decision-making. The third work package aims to unpack how increased digitalisation and the automation of surveillance and social control adversely affect the subjects of such control. With new knowledge on the functioning of AI-enhanced surveillance systems, we want to provide new solutions on how to improve their regulation. We focus on three aspects of regulation: ethical self-regulation, legal regulation and compliance, and "regulation by design." The fourth work package focuses on new forms of vulnerability, for example, vulnerability caused by the use of digital technology (e.g. "sexting," the use of "dark patterns" to manipulate people), vulnerability exacerbated by the Covid-19 crisis (e.g. increase in domestic violence, including intimate-partner violence, violence against children, and violence against the elderly), and vulnerability caused by our ever-evolving understanding of the concept of autonomy, in particular sexual autonomy. Overall, we want to provide the academic community, policymakers, and the public with recommendations on eliminating new risks emerging in an increasingly digitalised world and creating new policies beneficial for society.
Significance for science
The research will gather new empirical data and develop new theoretical concepts that will be relevant for the fields of criminology and law, in particular criminal law. By exploring how new technologies are changing various aspects of crime, crime prevention, the criminal justice system, social control, and the conduct of war, the research will provide original insights into these relatively underexplored topics and thus contribute to the development of both criminology and law. The interdisciplinary character of the research will ensure that the research findings will be useful in the fields of sociology, psychoanalysis, political science, security studies, international relations and philosophy. The impact of the research results in a particular field and sub-fields will be as follows: (1) Criminology. (1.1) State power and violence. First, the research will develop a new concept of structural violence that will include state monopolized use of potential and actual physical violence. Second, we will enrich criminological theories on social control by providing new insights into the role of state violence and its legal structures for maintaining existing power relations in the contemporary capitalist system. (1.2) Crimes of the powerful. First, by researching crimes of the powerful, in particular white-collar, corporate, and state crimes, we will provide new insights into the interconnectedness of these criminal phenomena and thus transcend traditional research that often treated them separately. Second, by examining how individuals react to state crimes, we will gain new knowledge of these phenomena and provide effective ways for preventing such crimes. (1.3) Victimology. First, by exploring under-researched topics such as 'sexting' and the development of 'dark patterns', we will provide original insights into how new technology creates new forms of victimisation and 'addiction'. Second, in the context of domestic violence, we will provide new empirical data on such crime during emergencies such as the Covid-19 crisis. (1.4) Criminology and other fields. First, the research will redefine key concepts at the intersection of criminology and psychoanalysis, particularly the concept of subjectivity in neoliberal capitalism. Drawing on psychoanalytic theory, we will provide new insights into the problem of loss of identity and the increase of depression and anxiety in today's society. Second, in the context of criminology and biology, we will provide new insights into how neoliberal ideology and various forms of surveillance affect human bodies. We will generate new ideas on how to integrate contemporary biological insights (e.g. the so-called holistic biology and, particularly, neurobiological research on inborn human motivation) within key criminological theories. (2) Law. The research will contribute new knowledge in various legal disciplines. (2.1) Criminal law. First, we will explore how criminal law interacts with psychology to provide new empirical data on the psychological underpinnings of criminal justice decision-making and identify psychological factors that are detrimental and those that could be beneficial to criminal justice decision-making. Second, we will explore how the criminal law interacts with neuroscience and thus provide, for example, original knowledge on new types of legal rights emerging in the era of novel neuro-technologies. In addition, we will provide solutions on how these rights could be conceptualised. Third, we will contribute to the development of criminal law with a reassessment and potential redefinition of criminal law principles in the light of AI technology. We will offer answers to a broad array of questions on the feasibility and legal compliance of algorithm-assisted automated justice in continental European systems. Fourth, the research on the concept of autonomy in sexual matters will contribute to the development of criminal justice by providing new solutions into how to draw a line between granting people positive freedom to engage in different sexual relations and protecting them from predatory abuse. (2.2) Constitutional law: We will analyse how new technologies infringe upon human rights and thus influence the development of a constitutional legal doctrine. (2.3) International public law: First, the research will provide new knowledge on recent re-conceptualizations of key rules of international humanitarian law and human rights law. In particular, the research will provide original insights into how new, over-broad criteria used by belligerent parties to determine military targets undermine key principles of international humanitarian law. (2.4) Data protection law: We will provide new insights, first, into the EU data protection law reform package and subsequent national reforms and, second, the EU digital markets and digital services reform to enhance platforms' responsibilities. (3) Philosophy. (3.1) Ethics: The research programme will touch on important ethical issues, particularly on pressing political and social problems, and the problem of violence. The research will also contribute to practical, applied ethics, for example, in areas such as armed conflicts, artificial intelligence technology, conflict of duties in emergencies such as the Covid-19 crisis, and, last but not least, in the criminal justice system in general. (3.2) Philosophy of (criminal) law. We will develop a new conceptual framework on how criminal law could better regulate technological development, in particular AI systems, and what are the possible legal ramifications of the changing concept of autonomony (WP4). (4) Dissemination within the academic community: The research results will benefit the Slovenian, European, and global academic community. We will disseminate the research findings through domestic and international conferences and other events, the education process, and international projects and collaborations.
Significance for the country
The research will provide political, legal, and moral guidelines for the social and cultural development of Slovenia, the EU, and beyond. The research findings will have an impact in the following areas. (1) Improving policies on crime, crime prevention, and surveillance. First, by identifying the adverse effects of current forms of state control and the reasons why the majority of the population accepts such control, the project will provide policy measures for the establishment of social control in the original meaning of the term, that is, control performed by society and not by the ruling class and expert elites. Second, the research will provide new ideas on which measures could be helpful to prevent domestic violence. The information gathered from focus group interviews will provide new insights into how vulnerable groups are treated by judges, prosecutors, and social workers in Slovenia. This will enable us to evaluate the systemic responses and options offered to victims of domestic crime, including intimate-partner violence, violence against children and the elderly. The results will be relevant for the Slovenian and other legal systems. Third, we will formulate new solutions for regulating the risks of social harm caused by information technology, such as artificial intelligence. This part of the research will offer new answers to an often-neglected question in continental criminal law - that is, the criminal prosecution of children engaged in consensual sharing of sexualized self-generated pictures or videos (sexting); and how to prevent exploitation of users in getting them hooked to IT products and services (dark patterns). Fourth, by examining how to improve the protection of sexual autonomy in hierarchical or asymmetric power relations, we will offer new concepts and normative solutions for preventing abuse in working environments. (2) Improving legislation. The research will provide solutions on how to strengthen the rule of law and contribute to preventing violence and reducing other forms of victimization and harms. We want to contribute new ideas on improving legislation based on respect for human rights, social solidarity, and tolerance. Moreover, the research programme will provide recommendations on enhancing the quality and impartiality of court decisions and augment the legal certainty and legitimacy of the judiciary. More specifically, by gaining new knowledge on the limitations of lethal autonomous weapons systems to comply with international humanitarian law, the programme will provide new guidelines on how to improve the regulation of such weapons systems. In the context of domestic violence, we expect that the research findings will improve Slovenian legislation and legal decision-making and, consequently, strengthen fundamental legal principles, such as the right to respect for private and family life and home. (3) Improving the ethics of technology and its use. First, by collaborating with stakeholders in the field of AI and digital surveillance, including the IT industry, the research will provide recommendations on how to limit surveillance and biased AI tools with 'ethic-by-design' and 'privacy-by-design' solutions. Second, one of the short-term impacts of the research will be to examine new AI technologies used by the police (e.g. the police use of the IMSI-catcher in gathering traffic and location data, and face recognition technology) in order to provide the police with feedback on this type of police powers and social acceptability of the new technologies. Third, one of the long-term impacts of the research will be to indirectly affect the development of AI systems. We will propose new solutions for protecting consumers' privacy and prevent information leaks. Fourth, the research will also be helpful for innovative economic development that will be sensitive to the diversity of interests involved in the use of AI and attuned to the fundamental liberties. We will provide pros and cons for implementing automated decision-making processes in public sector. A higher level of trust and security will make way for improvements in the IT industry. (4) Creating networks with non-academic stakeholders. The research will establish new and strengthen existing stakeholders' networks in the fight against crime. This will include co-operation with state authorities, where we expect the exchange of knowledge in educational programs for judges, prosecutors, lawyers, and other practitioners. Moreover, we will continue to collaborate with international stakeholders, such as EU agencies (e.g. The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights) and international organisations (e.g. the Council of Europe). (5) Increasing awareness among the public at large. All members of the research team will disseminate their findings in the news media and through social media, thus increasing public awareness of the key issues explored in the research (e.g. awareness on structural violence maintaining social inequalities, the use and misuse of AI systems in surveillance, the crimes of the powerful, the relevance of privacy etc.).
