Selective penalties

Joint conference of the Working Group on Historical Crime Research, the GiwK and the CiCS

The aim of the conference is to facilitate an interdisciplinary exchange in order to discuss questions of the selectivity of institutional punishment both from a historical perspective and with regard to current developments. Selectivity refers to the systematic tendency for members of certain social groups to be treated differently for comparable behavior. Various people could and can be affected by this, for example along categories such as gender, social status, religious ties, regional origin or ascribed foreignness or age, including the intersectional entanglement of these categories. Unequal treatment does not only refer to the level of punishment, but also begins with the perception, assessment and reporting of behavior. It is embedded in complex legal and social attributions (for example with regard to intent, culpability or social dangerousness), which can themselves have a selective effect.