What Motivates People to Commit Crimes?

What Motivates People to Commit Crimes?

March 28, 2025

A new Max Planck Partner Group at the Max Planck Institute in Freiburg will investigate the influences that motivate people to commit crimes.
It will be led by former postdoc William Patrick McClanahan, who is now an assistant professor at the University of Alabama.

Once a Liar—Always a Liar?

Once a Liar—Always a Liar?

March 27, 2025

Let us be honest—we have all been dishonest before. But is it possible to predict who is going to lie and who is not? Yes, a new study by Isabel Thielmann, Research Group Leader at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security suggests. Previous dishonest behavior can be a predictor of future dishonest behavior.

Killing Women for Being Women

Killing Women for Being Women

March 22, 2025

Femicide refers to the killing of girls and women because of their gender. A number of Latin American countries have introduced femicide as a separate criminal offense, but this is not the case in Germany. A research project is investigating and comparing the legal situation in eleven countries in Europe and the Americas. The aim is to find out whether femicide should be treated differently from other homicides. German media outlets have recently drawn attention to this critical issue.

Elisa Orrù Joins BKA Research Advisory Board

Elisa Orrù Joins BKA Research Advisory Board

March 18, 2025

Elisa Orrù, senior researcher at the Max Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law, has been appointed to the Research Advisory Board of the Forensic Science Institute of the German Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), effective March 2025.

Heith Copes Enhances Crime Research at Max Planck Institute

Heith Copes Enhances Crime Research at Max Planck Institute

February 28, 2025

Heith Copes, a Distinguished Professor of Criminal Justice at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, has been a Scholar in Residence since February 2025. His current research focuses on drug use and crime, utilizing qualitative methods and narrative theory to analyze the decision-making strategies of individuals engaged in crimes.

Marie Curie Fellowship for Lennart Reddmann

Marie Curie Fellowship for Lennart Reddmann

February 25, 2025

Lennart Reddmann, postdoc at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law, has received a highly competitive Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship from the European Commission.

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

Zeitschrift für Psychologie (ZfP): Special Issue “Personality and Crime”
Call for Papers (deadline: 07/15/2025)
eucrim – Online Journal
European Law Forum: Prevention • Investigation • Prosecution (eucrim 2024/2025)
Website   Call for Papers (pdf file, 2025: p. 2)

Events

Profiling & Automated Decisions in Criminal Justice

May 7, 2025 - May 9, 2025
Freiburg/Germany, Fürstenbergstr. 19, Room: Seminar room (F 113)

Smart City und GIS für räumliche Kriminalitätsanalysen

May 15, 2025 02:00 PM (Local Time Germany) - May 16, 2025 01:00 PM
Freiburg/Germany, Günterstalstr. 73, Room: 125

Illiberal and Populist Challenges to Liberal Constitutionalism: Theoretical, Institutional, and Practical Challenges

May 16, 2025 10:30 AM (Local Time Germany) - May 17, 2025 04:45 PM
Freiburg/Germany, Fürstenbergstr. 19, Room: Seminar room (F 113)

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


Sabrina Ellebrecht (ed), Ralf Poscher (ed), Stefan Jarolimek (ed), and Stefan Kaufmann (ed), "Die Polizei in der offenen Gesellschaft: zum polizeilichen Umgang mit Vielfalt und Diversität", (2025), pp. 361.
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
Poscher, Ralf: Existenz und Geltung des Rechts. Reihe „Würzburger Vorträge zur Rechtsphilosophie, Rechtstheorie und Rechtssoziologie“. Nomos, Baden-Baden 2024.
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
Hörnle, T. (2024). Die Grenzen für politische Proteste. Jahrbuch Recht und Ethik, 31(1), 15-39.
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.
Handbuch des Verfassungsrechts : Darstellung in transnationaler Perspektive
Die Schuld des Menschen
Trait-specificity versus global positivity: A critical test of alternative sources of assumed similarity in personality judgments.
Why It Is Not Unreasonable to Fear Terrorism
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
Hörnle, T. (2024). The Challenges of Designing Sexual Assault Law. Current Legal Problems, cuae002. doi:10.1093/clp/cuae002.
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