TUCaktuell research
On August 3, 2023, Saxony’s Justice Minister Katja Meier and Interior Minister Armin Schuster got an overview of the work of the Center for Criminological Research Saxony e. V. (ZKFS), an institute affiliated with Chemnitz University of Technology
Jennifer Führer (r.), Deputy Director of the ZKFS, informed Saxony’s Minister of Justice Katja Meier (2nd from left) and Saxony’s Minister of the Interior Armin Schuster (2nd from right) about current focal points of criminological research. Prof. Dr. Gerd Strohmeier (l.), Rector of the TUC, welcomed the two members of the Saxon state government. Photo: Niklas Schindler
On August 3, 2023, the Center for Criminological Research Saxony e. V. (ZKFS), an institute affiliated with Chemnitz University of Technology (TUC) and the first independent research facility for criminology in East Germany, welcomed two members of the Saxon state government as guests: Katja Meier, Saxon State Minister for Justice and for Democracy, Europe and Equality , and Armin Schuster, Saxon Minister of State for the Interior, informed themselves about the work and in particular the main research areas of the ZKFS. They were welcomed by Prof. Dr. Gerd Strohmeier, Rector of the TUC, and Jennifer Führer, Deputy Director of the ZKFS.
The ZKFS has the task of carrying out and promoting basic and practice-oriented criminological research. The research institute should make it possible to research more precisely the origins and perception of crime and to pursue urgent questions of crime prevention and crime policy. “Recommendations for action are to be derived from the findings of the ZKFS in cooperation with partners in practice, but pending political decisions are also to be scientifically substantiated or questioned,” says Führer. Current research projects of the ZKFS include the evaluation of the achievement of the goals of the “House of Youth Rights” in Leipzig, a project on the penal system and the media, which examines the role of modern media in prisons, for example, and a longitudinal study on the perception of crime that is unique in Germany.
Minister of Justice Katja Meier said: “I am pleased that with the Center for Criminological Research at Chemnitz University of Technology, a renowned research institute has been established in Saxony that supports Saxon criminal and legal policy with excellent research work. Criminological research lays the foundations for an evidence- and science-based criminal law policy that gives equal consideration to both the causes and effects of crime. As an important place for networking between practice, politics, science and citizens, the center for criminological research in the Saxon research landscape has become indispensable.”
Interior Minister Armin Schuster added: “For me, ensuring that people can live safely in Saxony is my top priority. Therefore, cooperation between the police and the judiciary and their close networking with a practice-oriented research landscape is essential for public safety. I would like to express my sincere thanks to the ZKFS specialists for their work and the insights they gained, which have already been incorporated into the First Periodic Safety Report. They help to better understand the causes of crime and thus to be able to fight criminal offenses more effectively. I am particularly pleased that further cooperations for future projects with the Saxony State Criminal Police Office and the Saxon Institute for Police and Security Research are already being planned. In this way we are consolidating our cooperation for more security in Saxony.”
“I am very pleased that two members of the Saxon State Government, Minister of State Katja Meier and Minister of State Armin Schuster, were guests at our affiliated institute, the Center for Criminological Research in Saxony. During the visit, Ms. Jennifer Führer, the deputy director of the ZKFS, was able to make it impressively clear that the ZKFS is unique in East Germany, has unique selling points nationwide and has already been able to work on a wide range of social and security policy issues in the last two years,” said TUC -Rector Prof. Dr. Gerd Strohmeier concludes.
Background: Center for Criminological Research Saxony e. V. (ZKFS)
The ZKFS conducts basic and practice-oriented criminological research in all areas of criminology, including criminal policy, and collects data on the development of crime and how it is perceived by the population and in public discourses. Current research topics are “Violence and Radicalization”, “Stigmatization and Perception” and the Justice System. This is intended to create a fact-based basis for a society-wide discussion about crime. The ZKFS is financed by grants from the State Ministry of Justice and for Democracy, Europe and Equality (SMJusDEG) as part of project funding. The ZKFS in Chemnitz started operations on August 1, 2021. The sponsor is a non-profit association that was founded on January 25, 2021. Director of the ZKFS is Prof. Dr. Frank Asbrock, Professor of Social Psychology at the TUC. Jennifer Führer is his deputy. The ZKFS has been an affiliated institute of the TUC since December 2021.
ZKFS website: www.zkfs.de
Social media channels: https://www.instagram.com/zkfs_chemnitz/;
Further information to the ZKFS Granted to Jennifer Führer, telephone 0371 335638-29, e-mail jennifer.fü[email protected].
(Source: including a press release from the Saxon State Ministry of Justice and for Democracy, Europe and Equality)
Mario Steinebach
03.08.2023