One of the world’s most respected and honoured criminologists, Cambridge University’s Professor David Farrington, will be a keynote speaker at the 26th Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology (ANZSOC) conference in Brisbane from October 1-3.
Hosted by Griffith University’s School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, the ARC Centre of Excellence in Policing and Security and the Key Centre for Ethics, Law, Justice and Governance, around 250 criminologists will gather at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre to discuss a range of issues including crime prevention, criminality, teaching and research.
“This is an opportunity for a major exchange of ideas between people whose credibility and calibre is making such a contribution to our understanding of, and response to, crime and criminality,” said Associate Professor Janet Ransley, Head of Griffith’s School of Criminology and Criminal Justice.
Professor David Farrington is Emeritus Professor of Psychological Criminology at Cambridge and is this year’s winner of the prestigious Stockholm Prize for Criminology.
The judgesrecognised Professor’s Farrington’s many years as a champion of early-life crime prevention programs, most notably his three decade-long involvement with the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development.
This project began in the early 1960s and has followed the criminal lives of more than 400 boys born in London in the 1950s. By interviewing them in every decade of their lives, Professor Farrington has been able to draw significant conclusions aboutthe reasons for criminal and other anti-social behaviour, and offer guidance on programs and policies applied in early life to prevent future crimes.
Professor Farrington’s research, books and hundreds of articles have influenced government policy in many countries, including the UK and US.
His work emanates from four key platforms – risk and protective areas for crime appear very early in life; high-risk children can be helped from birth; programs for children under the age of 10 can be beneficial; and investing in these programs can save massive amounts of taxpayer money later in life.
“There is no doubt that Professor Farrington is a world leader in his field and the insights and information he brings to the ANZSOC conference will be of enormous interest,” Associate Professor Ransley said.
Other keynote speakers at the conference will be Professor Lorraine Mazerolle, Research Professor in the Institute for Social Science Research at the University of Queensland, who will speak about policing partnerships; and Professor Richard Wortley, Head of the Department of Security and Crime Science at University College London, who will speak about understanding crime events.