Doctoral Researcher in Criminology: MPI 920 views

The Department of Criminology at the Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law is inviting applications for a doctoral researcher (m/f/d) for the project Short-term mindsets and crime: Does short-term thinking explain the relation between criminogenic environments and criminal behavior?

About the project:

1. This PhD project is part of the interdisciplinary research program “Crime and Time: How short-term mindsets encourage crime and how the future self can prevent it”. The program is funded through an ERC Consolidator Grant and led by Prof. Jean-Louis van Gelder.
2. The formal position will be in the Department of Criminology at the Max Planck Institute in Freiburg, Germany.
3. The ERC research program aims to integrate both views based on a new theoretical perspective, which draws from criminology, social psychology and evolutionary theory.
4. The question that is central to this project is whether short-term mindsets mediate the relation between criminogenic environments (e.g., rough neighborhoods, delinquent peers), events (e.g., getting expulsed from school, being incarcerated), and specific experiences (e.g., being drunk, high, aroused, or angry). The project will also test the new theoretical perspective – with help of a unique and extensive multi-wave data set – against several established crime theories, e.g., Routine Activities/Risky Lifestyles frameworks, Self-Control Theory, Labeling, and General Strain Theory.

Objectives are:

1. Identify the extent to which short-term mindsets account for the relation between contextual factors and crime. Measures of contextual factors include socio-economic status, social disorganization, negative life events, harsh parenting, substance use, and delinquent peers. Measures of short-term mindsets are self-control, impulsivity, future school orientation and vividness of/connectedness to the future self.
2. Contribute to the development of a new integrative theory explaining crime and delinquency and to test the new theoretical perspective against several established criminological theories.

Requirements:

• Applicant must have obtained MSc degree in a relevant field of the social sciences, preferably psychology, criminology or (quantitative) sociology. Completion of a Research Master is a plus as are publications and scientific presentations at conferences;
• Applicant must have a clear interest in crime research
• Applicant must have a strong background in statistics, preferably with experience in analyzing longitudinal data and/or complex modeling techniques with an interest in theory
• Applicant must have good social and communication skills;
• Applicant must have excellent English language skills, both in writing and speaking

Applications:

Apply by submitting a letter with motivation, resume including name, email, address, phone number, two or more references and a copy of master thesis – indicating the reference number K-19-01 – as one PDF file to: bewerbungen@mpicc.de, Re: K-19-01 (max. 5 MB per E-Mail).