An Oath Against Tax Evasion

An Oath Against Tax Evasion

November 07, 2024

Have you ever been dishonest on your tax return in order to pay less tax? Would a written “oath of honesty” that you had to sign have stopped you? Yes, that is likely, says a group of more than 40 international scientists who analyzed this phenomenon in a mega-study with over 21,000 participants. To do so, they used an extensive psychological examination of behavior in a kind of tax evasion game.

Honor for Sarah Katharina Stein

Honor for Sarah Katharina Stein

October 21, 2024

Sarah Katharina Stein has been honored with the 2023 Faculty Award by the Ludwig Maximilian University (LMU) of Munich. The award comes in recognition of her outstanding dissertation, written at LMU: “Staatliche Aufgaben oder staatliches Aufgeben? Die Gefahren militärischen Outsourcings” [State Mandate or State of Abandonment? The dangers of military outsourcing].

Ice-Cold Psychopaths?

Ice-Cold Psychopaths?

October 14, 2024

Psychopathic people have great difficulty or are even unable to show empathy and regulate their emotions. According to a new study by Matthias Burghart, a Max Planck researcher in Freiburg, this could be because these people suffer from alexithymia, also known as emotional blindness.

Freiburg Criminologist Honored

Freiburg Criminologist Honored

September 26, 2024

Florian Kaiser has been awarded the prize for rising scholars by the Association of German, Austrian and Swiss Criminologists (KrimG). Kaiser received the accolade for his dissertation, that was submitted to the Faculty of Sociology at Bielefeld University in 2022.

New Impulses for Victim Support and the Future of Criminal Justice

New Impulses for Victim Support and the Future of Criminal Justice

September 26, 2024

Experts from academia, the judiciary, legal policy groups, victim protection organizations, the police, and the penal system came together in Stuttgart to discuss how to take greater (and better) account of victims and their needs in criminal proceedings, and how to achieve more effective rehabilitation.

Barbara Huber Scholarship

Barbara Huber Scholarship

September 23, 2024

We are once again accepting applications for the Barbara Huber Scholarship Program that is open to outstanding academics from foreign research institutions for projects that contribute significantly to scientific progress in the areas of Criminology, Public Law and Criminal Law.

Independent Research Groups

Behavioral Economics of Crime and Conflict
Max Planck Research Group
Personality, Identity, and Crime
Max Planck Research Group
Space, Contexts, and Crime
Max Planck Research Group
Criminal Law Theory
Max Planck Research Group

Call for Papers

eucrim – Online Journal
European Law Forum: Prevention • Investigation • Prosecution (eucrim 2024/2025)
Website   Call for Papers (pdf file, 2025: p. 2)

Events

Cultures of Harm: Sexual Violence in Local and Global Contexts

Jan 22, 2025 05:00 PM - 06:30 PM (Local Time Germany)
Freiburg/Germany, Fürstenbergstr. 19, Room: Seminar room (F 113) | Guests are welcome; please register

Behavioral Market Design

Feb 12, 2025 05:00 PM - 07:00 PM (Local Time Germany)
Freiburg/Germany, Fürstenbergstr. 19, Room: Seminar room (F 113) | Guests are welcome; please register

Dangerous Science, Anticipation and the Human Right to Science

Oct 16, 2025 05:00 PM - 07:00 PM (Local Time Germany)
Freiburg/Germany, Fürstenbergstr. 19, Room: Seminar room (F 113) | Guests are welcome; please register

Meet the Researchers


The Directors

The Directors

Tatjana Hörnle, Jean-Louis van Gelder, and Ralf Poscher – the Institute’s direc­tors – introduce their research depart­ments and explain why the Max Planck Institute is one of the top addresses for international researchers in the fields of criminal law, public law, and criminology.
Dominik Gerstner, Postdoc, De­part­ment of Criminology

Dominik Gerstner, Postdoc, De­part­ment of Criminology

“How can virtual reality experiments help us to better understand the behavior of burglars?”
Sofiya Kartalova, Postdoc, De­part­ment of Public Law

Sofiya Kartalova, Postdoc, De­part­ment of Public Law

“What is the mysterious adhesive that helps the Member States of the European Union stick together?”
Ivó Coca-Vila, Senior Researcher, De­part­ment of Criminal Law

Ivó Coca-Vila, Senior Researcher, De­part­ment of Criminal Law

“What types of behavior should be criminalized in western democratic states?”
Clara Rigoni, Senior Researcher, De­part­ment of Criminal Law

Clara Rigoni, Senior Researcher, De­part­ment of Criminal Law

“We probably all agree that plu­ral­ity is a major char­ac­ter­istic of today´s socie­ties. But what role does plurality play in crim­i­nal law? And, in particular, how can we guarantee effective crime control in socie­ties that are so diverse?”
Sebastian Kübel, Doctoral Researcher, Department of Criminology

Sebastian Kübel, Doctoral Researcher, Department of Criminology

“How do you view your fu­ture? Although I hope you have optimistic expectations, I am con­vinced that one’s view of the future depends very much on past expe­ri­ence. In my research, I consider how future prospects might sud­denly change after being violently victimized.”
Federica Cop­pola, Senior Researcher, De­part­ment of Criminal Law

Federica Cop­pola, Senior Researcher, De­part­ment of Criminal Law

“One of the most pressing issues in cur­rent de­bates on criminal justice con­cerns the short­com­ings of imprison­ment. Prison environ­ments can have traumatizing effects on con­fined people. Long prison sentences have no positive impact on relapses on criminal be­hav­ior.”
James M. An­go­ve, Senior Re­searcher, Department of Public Law

James M. An­go­ve, Senior Re­searcher, Department of Public Law

“When political violence happens, it is tempting to point a finger at those who committed the violence or those who en­couraged them. But, on inspection, modern political violence doesn’t always meet these expectations.”

Publication Highlights


Coca-Vila, I. (2023). On the Necessity Defense in a Democratic Welfare State: Leaving Pandora’s Box Ajar. Criminal Law and Philosophy. doi:10.1007/s11572-023-09667-7
Cordes, M. (2024). The playing field of empirical facts: on the interrelations between moral and empirical beliefs in reflective equilibrium. Synthese, 203, 122. doi:10.1007/s11229-024-04553-8
Zisman, V. (2023). Criminal law without punishment: How our society might benefit from abolishing punitive sanctions (Bd. 25) Practical Philosophy. Berlin; Boston: De Gruyter. doi:10.1515/9783111027821
Hörnle, T. (2024). Die Grenzen für politische Proteste. Jahrbuch Recht und Ethik, 31(1), 15-39.
Hörnle, T. (2024). The Challenges of Designing Sexual Assault Law. Current Legal Problems, cuae002. doi:10.1093/clp/cuae002.
McClanahan, W. P., Sergiou, C. S., Siezenga, A., Gerstner, D., Elffers, H., van der Schalk, J., & van Gelder, J.-L. (2024). Neighborhood crime reduction interventions and perceived livability: A virtual reality study on fear of crime. Cities, 147, 104823. doi:10.1016/j.cities.2024.104823.
Herman, S., Barnum, T., Minà, P. E., Wozniak, P., & Van Gelder, J.-L. (2024). Affect, emotions, and crime decision-making: emerging insights from immersive 360° video experiments. Journal of Experimental Criminology. doi:10.1007/s11292-024-09615-y.
Why is violence high and persistent indeprived communities? A formal model
Gefahr und allgemeines Lebensrisiko
Trait-specificity versus global positivity: A critical test of alternative sources of assumed similarity in personality judgments.
Handbuch des Verfassungsrechts : Darstellung in transnationaler Perspektive
Journal of Research in Crime and DelinquencyVolume 60 Issue 4, July 2023Special Issue: Crime, Choice, and ContextGuest Editor: Jean-Louis van GelderGuest Editor: Daniel S. Nagin
Plädoyer für die Legalisierung der Leihmutterschaft. Interdisziplinäre Analyse der Problemfelder und Regulierungsvorschlag am Vorbild der Lebendorganspende (Doktorarbeit)
Why It Is Not Unreasonable to Fear Terrorism
Die Schuld des Menschen
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