Sem02 (2026-20276) Tackling Crime

Course details

• Practical information

  Academic year
  2026-2027

  Semester
  2

  Period
  5

  Day(s)
  Tuesdays and Thursdays, and 1 Saturday (1 May)

  Time
  17:30 – 19:30

  Number of meetings
  14 + 1 excursion on a Saturday (scheduled on Saturday 1 May!)

  Dates of all meetings
  30 March  
  1, 6, 8, 13, 15, 20, 22, 29 April
  1 (Saturday), 4, 11, 13, 18, 20 May  

  Location
  Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1105, 1081 HV Amsterdam

  Room
  Tbd

  Credits
  6

  Course Coordinator

  • Prof. dr. Lucres M.C. Nauta-Jansen (coordinator), full professor of Translational Forensic Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Dept. of child- and adolescent psychiatry & psychosocial care, at AmsterdamUMC (l.nauta-jansen @amsterdamumc.nl)
  • Sterre van Haeringen, PhD student , Dept. of child- and adolescent psychiatry & psychosocial care, at Amsterdam UMC (s.l.vanhaeringen@amsterdamumc.nl)

  Student assistants

  • Jeroen Dijkmans, PhD student , Dept. of child- and adolescent psychiatry & psychosocial care, at Amsterdam UMC
  • Nick Adrian, PhD student , Dept. of child- and adolescent psychiatry & psychosocial care, at Amsterdam UMC
  • Alexandra de Meijere, PhD student , Dept. of child- and adolescent psychiatry & psychosocial care, at Amsterdam UMC
  • Carmen Mendes de Leon, PhD student , Dept. of child- and adolescent psychiatry & psychosocial care, at Amsterdam UMC

  Lecturers

  • Prof. Dr. Lucres Nauta-Jansen, Dept. of child- and adolescent psychiatry & psychosocial care,  AmsterdamUMC
  • Adria Aquilue, PhD student, Dept. of Psychiatry, Complex trait genetics
  • Dr. Thimo van der Pol, forensic psychotherapist (Arkin) and researcher (Amsterdam UMC).
  • Dr. Carmen Sergiou, postdoc at Dept. of child- and adolescent psychiatry & psychosocial care Amsterdam UMC
  • Dr. Peter de Looff, senior researcher at Fivoor and University of Tilburg.
  • Mr. Ellen van Kalveen, senior judge, chair expert group juvenile judges.
  • Dr. Michiel de Vries-Robbé, Dept. of child- and adolescent psychiatry & psychosocial care Amsterdam UMC
  • Experienced expert, tbd

  NB this is a provisional list, definitive list will be published on Canvas.

• Learning objectives

  • Solid background of biosocial concepts and biosocial findings within criminology
  • Ability to integrate different perspectives applied to antisocial behaviour
  • Ability to see how academic knowledge can be translated into practice (clinical or juridical)
  • Ability to write a structured research proposal or poster based on the lectures and literature and to present this paper/poster to a small audience

• Working formats & structure

  • On Tuesdays, interactive lectures from experts in the field will be given, including a lecture by former offender/experienced expert.
  • On Thursdays we will provide tools for your assignments in the form of specific workshops.  
  • One Saturday: 2 May, excursion to a youth detention facility
  • Final proposal presentation session

• Assessments methods

  Students are evaluated by means of an individual assignment (30 %),  a written group research proposal (50 %) and presentation thereof (20 %).

• Fraud and Plagiarism

  With regard to fraud and plagiarism, the VU Student Charter (Chapter 10) and the rules and regulations of the Examination Board of the faculty that offers the course, apply. This will be monitored carefully. Upon suspicion of fraud or plagiarism the Examinations Board will be informed.

• Attendance expectations

  • Be present at all lectures and work groups. Make sure to inform your teacher as soon as possible if you cannot attend a class due to special circumstances. If you are absent for two lectures and/or work groups, or over 15 % of all meetings, the teacher can assign an additional task or deny further participation.
  • Active participation in the seminars and class discussions plays a crucial role in student learning in the course, and in the student’s ability to reach the course objectives: attendance, preparation, and active in-class participation will therefore form part of the course assessment.

• Study materials

  • Research articles
  • Video’s and popular articles

• Recommended background reading

  • Sapolsky, R. (2017) Behave.
  • Raine. A (2013). The anatomy of violence. The biological roots of crime.
  • Walsh, Anthony and Kevin M. Beaver (2009). Biosocial criminology: New directions in theory and research.

   (The books are recommended, not required)