As of 1 January 2025, Tamar Fischer has been appointed as Professor of Empirical Criminology: Offender-Oriented Interventions at Erasmus School of Law. This chair within the Department of Law, Society & Crime provides the possibility to research the approach of offenders in its complex societal and institutional context, in order to arrive at more effective interventions that contribute to a safer society.
Fischer is an empirical criminologist with broad expertise. After studying sociology at Utrecht University, Fischer obtained her PhD in 2004 with the thesis entitled: Parental Divorce, Conflict, and Resources. The Effects on Children's Behaviour Problems, Socioeconomic Attainment, and Transitions in the Demographic Career at Radboud University Nijmegen. She then worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute, after which she joined Erasmus School of Law as Assistant Professor in 2006 and as Associate Professor of Criminology in 2017. Fischer has also held the role of Vice-Chair of the Law, Society & Crime Department since 2022. As Programme Director of Criminology, she has been responsible for the Bachelor programme in Criminology since 2023. She has also been head of the Criminology Section since September 2024.
Fischer's empirical research leads to close collaboration with practitioners and connection of (academic) disciplines. This results in multidisciplinary research that directly addresses current societal issues and produces results with high societal and scientific impact. Her research in the field of offender-oriented interventions, in which her expertise in empirical criminology and mixed methods research approach plays a major role, has led to many publications in international peer-reviewed journals and reports that provide answers to topical questions in policy and politics, including the WODC report on enforcement and safety in criminal prohibitions, reports on sexual street harassment in Rotterdam and research on aggression against police officers. Fischer also regularly appears in the media and advises local and central governments. She has presented her research to, among others, the ministers of Legal Protection, Justice and Security, and the Rotterdam Triangle.
Interventions alone do not ensure safety
The past decades have brought two major developments in the way society and the judicial domain view perpetrators of criminal offences, the approach to them, and victim protection. Whereas, on the one hand, an increased social need for security has led to a movement towards more repression and a call for harsher and more efficient punishment, on the other hand, the realisation has developed that repression and custodial sentences alone do not eliminate criminogenic factors among offenders, but rather increase them, which in the long run does not contribute to safety in society.
Research on the interaction between offender-oriented interventions and the context in which they take place is scarce. It is exactly this interface where Fischer's research is situated. Within this chair, she will focus on the complex context in which the interventions take place, providing insight into actual practice and how the influence of offender behaviour and victim protection can be achieved within its context.
"In my interpretation of the Chair of Empirical Criminology, which is substantively spearheaded by research into the practice of offender-oriented interventions, the interaction between the interventions and the complex societal and institutional context in which offenders are addressed and victims are protected is key. My experience with mixed-methods policy-oriented research, situated at the interface of criminal justice and criminology, will form the basis of my research. In this, I will distinguish between three different contexts: the institutional context of the intervention, the immediate social context of the offender during or after the intervention, and victim-offender relationships," Fischer states.
Crime, law and security in context
Within the chair, Fischer will examine how offender-oriented interventions work in practice. By bridging academia and practice as well as different disciplines and research methods, she can offer a broader perspective on effective offender-oriented interventions and a safer society. This approach fits seamlessly with Erasmus School of Law's fundamental premise that law cannot be considered in isolation.
Fischer responds happily to her appointment: "I look forward to contributing even more to our fine School from my chair, especially in the context of criminological research and education. Research and education that puts us at the centre of society and connects us to the world of law".
The Board of Erasmus School of Law congratulates Tamar Fischer on her appointment and wishes her success in her work.
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