Call for Papers: International Perspectives on Dangerousness in Criminal Law, Submission deadline: Wednesday, 1 April 2026

Call for Papers

International Perspectives on Dangerousness in Criminal Law

Submission deadline: Wednesday, 1 April 2026

In liberal democracies across the globe, an increasingly important function of criminal law is to reduce the risk of reoffending. This “preventive turn” in criminal law is most evident in the expansion of preventive sanctions that can be imposed on (ex-)offenders. What has received relatively little attention so far, is the dangerousness of the offender required for the imposition (or extension) of these sanctions. The aim of this special issue is to change this and provide a discussion of both the legal concept of dangerousness and the empirical determination of dangerousness and the risk of recidivism. We seek contributions on the understanding and application of dangerousness in different legal systems around the world. Potential topics include — but are not limited to:

Concepts and criteria of dangerousness: How do legal scholars, psychiatrists, and philosophers understand dangerousness and risk? How does the concept of dangerousness in criminal law relate to the concept of risk (of recidivism) that is commonly used by psychiatrists and psychologists? What are the legal criteria of dangerousness for imposing or extending preventive sanctions?

Evidence of dangerousness: In what ways can the dangerousness of the offender be established? What is (and should be) the standard of proof for dangerousness? To what extent can dangerousness be legally “proven”? To what extent can (different methods of) risk assessment be used as evidence of (the absence of) dangerousness?

Legal and ethical limits on dangerousness and risk assessment: What degree and nature of dangerousness justifies the imposition of (specific) preventive measures? What are the legal and ethical limits to the use of (different methods of) risk assessment to assess the risk of recidivism?

Submission Guidelines/Instructions:

The opening is for issue 44 (5). The deadline for manuscript submission is April 1, 2026. Manuscripts should be 20 to 30 doubled-spaced typewritten pages and should comply with the editorial and referencing style of the most recent edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association or the Harvard Law Review’s The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (but not both). Specific style requirements can be found in a recent copy of the journal or can be obtained via direct communication with the journal’s editorial office.

All manuscripts for consideration are processed electronically and must be anonymized, i.e., all co-authors’ works cited must be de-identified in text and in the reference list. We ask that you upload the manuscript to the Behavioral Sciences & the Law submission site. You will be required to create an account then follow submission instructions. Our editorial office will send an acknowledgment once your manuscript is successfully submitted. Please refer to the Author Guidelines to prepare your manuscript. When submitting your manuscript, please answer the question “Is this submission for a special issue?” by selecting the special issue title from the drop-down list.

If you are interested in submitting a manuscript for this special issue, we would appreciate knowing as soon as possible. Please send a brief description of the subject of your potential paper to the special issue co-editors.

For more details, refer here