1. Introduction.- 2. On the state of the art in European homicide research.- 3. Setting and context: criminological violence research in the Balkans.- 4. The Balkan homicide study.- 5. Study results - regional commons and country specifics.- 6. Discussion of key findings.- 7. Food for thought.
Anna-Maria Getoš Kalac heads the transdisciplinary Violence Research Lab and regional Balkan Criminology Network at University of Zagreb’s Faculty of Law, where she holds a tenured professorship and has been teaching criminology, victimology, penology and basics of criminal law since 2006. She thus teaches as appointed Professeur Invité at University of Lausanne’s School of Criminal Sciences and at Sciences Po in Paris. She works on topics such as violence research; organized crime, criminal state capture and (academic) corruption; terrorism and radicalization; crime (policy) in transitional societies; crime statistics; ISRD3 and ISRD4 Croatia. Back in 2012 she initiated the Max Planck Society funded Balkan Criminology research group which has meanwhile managed to revive criminological research in Croatia and the Balkans - the Balkan Homicide Study is one of the group’s major achievements. She earned her LL.M. (2004) and Dr.iur. (2010) from the Albert Ludwig University in Freiburg, while conducting criminological research at the Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law.
This is the first volume to offer an in-depth look at (lethal) violence in the Balkans. The Balkans Homicide Study analyses 3,000 (attempted) homicide cases from Croatia, Hungary, Kosovo, Macedonia, Romania and Slovenia. Shedding light on a region long neglected in terms of empirical violence research, the study at hand asks:
- What types of homicides occur in the Balkans?
- Who are the perpetrators and what motivates them?
- Who are the victims and what potential protective factors are on their side?
- Why do prosecutors dismiss homicide investigations?
Amongst other questions and considerations, this brief discusses regional commonalities throughout the Balkans in view of their cultural,historical and normative context. Dismantling negative stereotypes of a growing and thriving Balkan society, this volume will be of interest to researchers in the Balkans, researchers of post-conflict regions, and those interested in the nature of homicide and its motivation, prevention, and various criminal justice approaches.