Ellen Van Damme
Biographic Data
| ID | 334314 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Ellen Van Damme |
| GIVEN NAMES | Ellen |
| FAMILY NAME | Van Damme |
| SIGNATURE | VAN DAMME E |
| AFFILIATIONS | Institute of Criminology |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-9603-5229 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 7 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 3 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 7 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2018 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Introduction
The introduction to the special issue examines the epistemological boundaries of perpetrator studies, highlighting the tension between treating perpetration as an empirical fact and critically interrogating the category of the perpetrator itself. It identifies three conceptual threads: the gap between legal and analytical categories, the instability of the perpetrator-victim binary, and the role of discourse in legitimising violence. The four con…
From “iron fists” to digital traps
Thirty years after the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPfA), the treatment of women and girls within the criminal justice system remains a critical area where international law clashes with national practice. This article looks at how the implementation of UN frameworks, including the BPfA, the Beijing Rules, and the Bangkok Rules, are applied to women and girls in conflict with the law in the United States, Honduras, and El Salvado…
Studying Gangs in Central and South America
By accounting for the perspectives of gang members, qualitative studies in Central and South America have challenged the heavy reliance on secondary material that characterizes literature in the region, including moralized preconceptions of gangs. This chapter acknowledges this important contribution but argues that qualitative gang researchers must be more attuned to methodological reflections on their positionality, particularly how their gende…
L. Cowan, Border Nation
begins her book with one key question "Why break down borders?", to which she formulates an answer and plan of action for those who work in policy, politicians, and all other citizens of the United Kingdom (UK). Cowan starts from the premise that "no human is illegal," further drawing on the UK's exploitative history of occupation, extractivism, and enslavement, in order to build her argument in favour of abolishing borders. By making cross-refer…
Corruption, impunity and mistrust
Purpose This paper aims to discuss the importance of having several entry points into the field, via gatekeepers who do not belong to law enforcement agencies, in contexts where the police cannot be defined as trustworthy. Design/methodology/approach The argumentation of this paper is based on qualitative research on women and gangs in Honduras. An ethnographical methodology was implemented, which included over a year of observations, 65 intervie…
When Overt Research Feels Covert
This paper discusses the tension between ethics in theory and ethics in practice, along the continuum of overt and covert field research. I argue that complete overt research is not only unfeasible, but can even be dangerous or harmful to the people we research and the researcher. Within this discussion it can be stated that the formal standardized requirements of the ethics committees actually undermine our ability to act ethically. For this rea…
On the Road with the Beast
status: Published
When Overt Research Feels Covert
This paper discusses the tension between ethics in theory and ethics in practice, along the continuum of overt and covert field research. I argue that complete overt research is not only unfeasible, but can even be dangerous or harmful to the people we research and the researcher. Within this discussion it can be stated that the formal standardized requirements of the ethics committees actually undermine our ability to act ethically. For this rea…
Corruption, impunity and mistrust
Purpose This paper aims to discuss the importance of having several entry points into the field, via gatekeepers who do not belong to law enforcement agencies, in contexts where the police cannot be defined as trustworthy. Design/methodology/approach The argumentation of this paper is based on qualitative research on women and gangs in Honduras. An ethnographical methodology was implemented, which included over a year of observations, 65 intervie…
On the Road with the Beast
status: Published
When Overt Research Feels Covert
This paper discusses the tension between ethics in theory and ethics in practice, along the continuum of overt and covert field research. I argue that complete overt research is not only unfeasible, but can even be dangerous or harmful to the people we research and the researcher. Within this discussion it can be stated that the formal standardized requirements of the ethics committees actually undermine our ability to act ethically. For this rea…
Corruption, impunity and mistrust
Purpose This paper aims to discuss the importance of having several entry points into the field, via gatekeepers who do not belong to law enforcement agencies, in contexts where the police cannot be defined as trustworthy. Design/methodology/approach The argumentation of this paper is based on qualitative research on women and gangs in Honduras. An ethnographical methodology was implemented, which included over a year of observations, 65 intervie…
L. Cowan, Border Nation
begins her book with one key question "Why break down borders?", to which she formulates an answer and plan of action for those who work in policy, politicians, and all other citizens of the United Kingdom (UK). Cowan starts from the premise that "no human is illegal," further drawing on the UK's exploitative history of occupation, extractivism, and enslavement, in order to build her argument in favour of abolishing borders. By making cross-refer…
Studying Gangs in Central and South America
By accounting for the perspectives of gang members, qualitative studies in Central and South America have challenged the heavy reliance on secondary material that characterizes literature in the region, including moralized preconceptions of gangs. This chapter acknowledges this important contribution but argues that qualitative gang researchers must be more attuned to methodological reflections on their positionality, particularly how their gende…
Introduction
The introduction to the special issue examines the epistemological boundaries of perpetrator studies, highlighting the tension between treating perpetration as an empirical fact and critically interrogating the category of the perpetrator itself. It identifies three conceptual threads: the gap between legal and analytical categories, the instability of the perpetrator-victim binary, and the role of discourse in legitimising violence. The four con…
From “iron fists” to digital traps
Thirty years after the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPfA), the treatment of women and girls within the criminal justice system remains a critical area where international law clashes with national practice. This article looks at how the implementation of UN frameworks, including the BPfA, the Beijing Rules, and the Bangkok Rules, are applied to women and girls in conflict with the law in the United States, Honduras, and El Salvado…
Criminology (4 works) · Political science (3 works) · Sociology (3 works) · Crime Patterns and Interventions (2 works) · Crime, Illicit Activities, and Governance (2 works) · History (2 works) · Language change (2 works) · Law (2 works) · Psychology (2 works) · Social science (2 works)