Societal Risks and Safety Studies (MR&V)

Department Chair
Ariana Need

Governments, companies, and citizens are regularly confronted with divergent societal risks and security questions. Through their research and education programmes, MR&V contributes to social science analysis and approaches relevant to policy-making of such problems. MR&V is very focused on (new) social risks and safety issues in a changing society; such as the consequences of globalisation, individualisation, secularisation, the knowledge economy, technology, the greying population and migration. Common to all of these subjects is the interaction of the citizens with their social and administrative environment. The department has two lines of research: one is sociological and the other is criminological.

The first line of investigation concerns the interaction between citizens and public administration. Examples include the participation of women in education and in the labour market, or the integration of minorities in the wider society. The welfare state was the traditional answer to many of the classic social risks. Since this solution has gone as far as it can, the research focus is now on new organisation and new forms of control. There are many fresh questions to be broached regarding the pace and timing for the dismantling of the welfare state.

The second line of investigation addresses the problems of societal (in)security such as crime, anti-social behaviour, repeat offending and the weapons trade. Security research is conducted under the auspices of the Institute of Social Security Issues (IPIT), which is a part of the department. Security issues are traditionally the purview of the police, but contemporary issues require new and complementary approaches. Aside from the criminological and administrative insights, IPIT searches for connections with evidence-based practice.