I am proud to present the first issue of the Nordic Journal of Criminology. Even though the name is new, this journal has old roots.
In 1965, a very ambitious book series was published under the name Scandinavian Studies in Criminology. The book series, issued regularly until 1999, covered topics such as punishment, youth crime, drinking and driving, policing and violence. The series was initiated and financed by the Scandinavian Research Council for Criminology. In the series’ first foreword, professor Johannes Andernæs described how the Second World War formed a dividing line in Nordic criminology. Before the war, almost all researchers with criminological interests were trained in medicine or law. After the war, however, American and English sociology, as well as psychology, became more influential. Hence, criminological research in the Nordic countries grew to become more extensive and varied.
Later, in 1992, the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention started the scientific journal Studies on Crime & Crime Prevention, together with the Crime Prevention Councils in the Nordic countries. This journal was initiated by Prof. Per-Olof H. Wikström, who wanted to make Nordic criminology more internationally available. The first editor, Dr. Artur Solarz, recruited an impressive editorial board, and many among them also published in the journal.
In 2000, the book series Scandinavian Studies in Criminology merged with the journal Studies on Crime & Crime Prevention. A new name was chosen to reflect the origins of the resulting journal: Journal of Scandinavian Studies in Criminology and Crime Prevention. This new journal published criminological and crime prevention research, and its first editor, professor Kauko Aromaa, presented it as a forum for publications with a Nordic perspective. Here, criminology was described as cross-disciplinary, and the Nordic welfare states as creating particular structures for crime prevention and crime policy.
Today, our newly named Nordic Journal of Criminology thus has roots in a long tradition of criminological research publications. The ‘criminology’ part of the name encompasses also how nowadays, crime prevention is often an important feature of criminological research. The new name further highlights that the journal welcomes submissions from, and about, all the Nordic countries. So please, join the conversation about Nordic criminology, as either a reader or an author – or both!
Warmly welcome to this first issue of Nordic Journal of Criminology!