In April this year, I was having dinner with with Dr Branislav Hock, Dr Elisabeth Carter and Professor Umut Turksen in Portsmouth and we decided an academic society focused upon economic criminology was much needed. Several months later and after an extensive consultation, a new organisation called the International Society of Economic Criminology was created. So what was the reason for this?
First, mainstream criminologists are not as interested in economic crime as other forms. Attend the British Society of Criminology conference and there is very little dedicated to economic crime. The European Society of Criminology conference is better, but pockets of activity on organisational crime and cybercrime do not scratch the surface of this important subject.
Second, these criminology conferences are directed at criminologists and largely academics. The more you consider the extant research on economic crime you realise there is much more research being conducted in management studies, computer science, accountancy, law to name some. Bringing these together in conferences, seminars, publications etc, we believe can only be achieved through a new society dedicated to the study of this subject.
Third, there are many professionals working in economic crime who are hungry for research and to debate the issues of importance. A society dedicated to their subject area provides the opportunity to bring them together with academics and other professionals interested in economic criminology research.
Fourth, a society provides a firmer foundation to advance economic criminology. Many academic institutions host events, disseminate research etc. But much of this activity is precarious and subject to the buffeting of organisational and wider sector funding (which is not good in the UK at present), which could be ‘snuffed out’ in an instant. A society provides firmer foundations transcending individual institutions.
We have many ideas for the new society and eventually we will create a structure with formal membership. We will have an annual conference that is hosted each year by a different institution; there will be other events and online seminars too. We will have blogs and other publications highlighting the latest research to our members. There will be resources too for our members to easily find research to name just some of the ideas we are thinking about.
But our first priority is to create a leadership group to take our vision for the society forward. If you are interested in becoming a member or taking on a leadership role please contact us.
Professor Mark Button
Dr Elisabeth Carter, Dr Branislav Hock, Professor Umut Turksen and Professor Mark Button in the A Bar in Portsmouth - where they originally discussed the need for a new society on economic crime.
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