Joint Conference of the Working Group on Historical Crime Research, the GiwK, and the CiCS
The goal of the conference is to facilitate an interdisciplinary exchange to discuss issues of selectivity in institutional punishment, both from a historical perspective and in light of current developments. By “selectivity,” we mean the systematic tendency for members of certain social groups to have been—and to continue to be—treated differently for comparable behaviors. This has affected and continues to affect various individuals, for example, based on categories such as gender, social status, religious affiliations, regional origin or perceived foreignness, or age, including the intersectional overlap of these categories. Unequal treatment does not refer solely to the severity of punishment but begins as early as the perception, assessment, and reporting of behavior. It is embedded in complex legal and social attributions (such as with regard to intent, criminal responsibility, or social danger), which themselves can have selective effects.
Everything at a Glance
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Event Dates
November 5–7, 2026 -
Event Location
University of Siegen
Unteres Schloss Campus
Obergraben 25 | 57072 Siegen -
Event Format
Conference
More Information
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Speakers
See program -
Organizers
Working Group on Historical Crime Research
Society for Interdisciplinary Scientific Criminology (GiwK)
Center for interdisciplinary Crime Studies (CiCS) -
Contact
Kira Keßler
School II, Department of Educational Science
Institute of Social Pedagogy
Adolf-Reichwein-Straße 2a
57076 Siegen -
selektive-strafen@uni-siegen.de
Program | Information | Registration
| 2.00–2.30 pm | Arrival & Coffee | |
| 2.30–2.45 | Introduction | |
| 2.45–3.45 |
Opening Lecture Manon van der Heijden (Leiden, NL): Migrants and Discrimination in Criminal Cases in Early Modern Holland |
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| 3.45–4.15 | Coffee Break / Snack | |
| 4.15–5.35 | Parallel Sessions | |
| Petr Kreuz (Prague/CZ): Selective Punishment in the Practice of Prague Criminal Courts, 1680–1740 | Blanka Szeghyová & Richard Papáč (Bratislava, SK): Biased Scales: Selective Urban Justice in Early Modern Hungary | |
| Sonja Dolinsek (Magdeburg/DE): Unequal Policing of Sex Work in New York City (1960s–1980s) | András Biczó (Debrecen/HU): Contra Vagabundos: The Selective Criminalization of Vagrancy under the Statutes of Hungarian Noble Counties and Free Royal Cities (1650–1720) | |
| 8.30–9.00 am | Arrival & Coffee | |
| 9.00–10.20 | Parallel Sessions | |
| Belinda Rodríguez Arrocha (Puebla, MX): Public Sins and Social Control in the Early Modern Canary Islands | Lars Urbanski (Mannheim/DE): Hierarchies of National Belonging in the Penal Colony: The Case of French Guiana | |
| Andrea Fehér (Cluj/RO): Normative Thresholds of Public Intervention in Domestic Violence and Child Maltreatment in 18th-Century Transylvania | Hjördis Bohse (Osnabrück/DE): A Foreign Homeland: On the Significance of Social Status, Gender, and Local Residency for the Punishment of Broken Marriage Vows in East Frisia (1643–1744) | |
| 10.20–10.50 | Coffee Break | |
| 10.50–11.30 | Parallel Sessions | |
| Kira Keßler (Siegen, DE): Selective Visibilities in the Prosecution of Juvenile Delinquency in Prussia (1825–1848) | Anna Clara Basilicò (Trento/IT): Between Magic and Murder: Inquisitorial Justice and Selective Prosecution in Late 17th-Century Italy | |
| 11.30–12.15 | Karl Härter (Frankfurt am Main/DE): Labeling and Selectivity in Early Modern Criminal Justice: The Example of the “Gypsies” | |
| 12.15–1.50 pm | Lunch Break | |
| 1.50–3.10 | Parallel Sessions | |
| Franziska Niedrist (Innsbruck, AT): State Control as an Extraordinary Punishment? Discourses and Normative Regulatory Mechanisms: The Case of Habsburg Criminal Legislation | Johan Edman (Stockholm/SE): Public Opinion, Just Deserts, and the Political Debate on Crime Policy and Class Injustice in Sweden (1853–1887) | |
| Luigi Giuseppe Barbieri Ferrarini (São Paulo/BR): The Influence of Eugenics on Brazilian Criminological Thought, 1917–1950 | Benjamin Stückelberger (Bern/CH): Primary Selectivity through the Concept of Intent in the Swiss Federal Supreme Court and Criminal Law Literature Regarding Offenses Against Life and Limb | |
| 3.10–3.40 | Coffee Break | |
| 3.40–5.15 | Parallel Sessions | |
| Manuel Bolz (Göttingen, DE): The Securitization and Juridification of Urban Entertainment Districts: The Case of Hamburg’s St. Pauli District after World War II | Gaby Temme (Düsseldorf, DE): Patterns of Selectivity: Selective Assistance for Victims and Perpetrators Through Social Work | |
| Francis Kirk (Potsdam/DE): Overload: The Crime Boom and Selective Enforcement Responses from Perestroika to Independent Ukraine (1985–1991) | Sonja Bojak (Kassel/DE): Constructions and Interconnections of Unmanageability and Dangerousness. A Discourse-Theoretical Analysis of Justifications for Placement in the “Moringen Juvenile Protection Camp” | |
| 5.15–6.15 |
Evening Lecture Paul Lawrence (Milton Keynes/UK): Selective Policing |
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| 8.30–9.00 am | Arrival & Coffee |
| 9.00–10.20 | Julia Derzsi (Sibiu, RO): Norm, Practice, and Collective Enforcement Strategies in Early Modern Transylvanian-Saxon Criminal Justice |
| Michael Rocher (Berlin/DE): School Punishments Between Selectivity and Formality: The Demands of the Norm and Realities from the Late 17th to the Mid-19th Century | |
| 10.20–10.50 | Coffee Break |
| 10.50–12.10 | Benjamin Seebröker (Münster/DE): Space, Conflict, and Social Interaction. The Potential of Criminological Approaches for Explaining Violent Crime in England (ca. 1730–1830) |
| Roland Perényi & Róbert Kerepeszki (Debrecen/HU): Urbanization, Metropolitan Space, and the “Standardized Gaze”: Transformations in Police Surveillance in Budapest (1881–1941) | |
| 12.10–12.30 pm | Wrap-Up |
Thematic Panels:
Panel 1 | Processes and Patterns of Selective Punishment: Belinda Rodríguez Arrocha, Anna Clara Basilicò, Sonja Dolinsek, Andrea Fehér, Kira Keßler & Petr Kreuz
Panel 2 | Social Selectivity and Institutional Logics: András Biczó, Hjördis Bohse, Karl Härter, Blanka Szeghyová/Richard Papáč & Lars Urbanski
Panel 3 | Selectivity in Norms and Discourses: Sonja Bojak, Johan Edman, Luigi Giuseppe Barbieri Ferrarini, Franziska Niedrist, Benjamin Stückelberger & Gaby Temme
Panel 4 | Historical Trends: Julia Derzsi, Roland Perényi/Róbert Kerepeszki, Michael Rocher & Benjamin Seebröker
Panel 5 | Social Control and Selectivity in Hard-to-Control Spaces: Manuel Bolz & Francis Kirk
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Conference Venue
University of Siegen
Unteres Schloss Campus
Obergraben 25, 57072 Siegen
You can find information on the map and directions here.
Paid parking is available in the immediate vicinity:
CONTIPARK Unteres Schloss Underground Parking Garage
Old Town Parking Garage
Parking lot at the Löhrtor Indoor Swimming Pool
You can find accommodation options in the Siegen area here.
Participation in the “Selective Punishment” conference is free of charge, but we ask that you register.
Registration deadline: October 15, 2026
Please use the following website to register.
