Bürgerwehren und ihre Bedeutung im öffentlichen Raum

The author examines the phenomenon of newly formed citizen patrols that emerged in many places following the New Year's Eve events in Cologne in 2015/2016 from an interdisciplinary perspective. She not only provides new foundational criminological knowledge about German citizen patrols but also situates this within the broader context of current developments. From a scientific standpoint, the focus is on the significance of deviant behavior for criminology in general.

The content includes citizen patrols as an interdisciplinary research subject, the range of actions of citizen patrols, citizen patrols online – a statistical survey, the state's monopoly on violence, security and public space, as well as citizen patrols as a criminologically relevant issue in public space.

The target audience consists of students and educators in law, with a focus on criminology and criminal law, as well as sociology, along with professionals and leaders in scientific institutions in the fields of political science, criminology, and sociology.

The author, Dipl.-Soc., Dipl.-Jur. Dr. Anika Hoffmann, studied sociology and law at the universities of Mainz and Frankfurt am Main. After working as a research assistant in the departments of Sociological Theory and Gender Studies, as well as Criminology, Criminal Law, Juvenile Criminal Law, and Prison Law at the University of Mainz, she has been working at the Criminological Research Institute in Wiesbaden since 2015.