The central research objective of this project is to empirically and normatively capture and analyze the phenomenology, etiology, and prosecution of delinquent violence in Croatia, with a clear focus on particularly vulnerable groups of victims and their very specific needs for protection (for example: elderly, minorities, children, etc.).

The whole idea behind this project is based upon a fact that one of the greatest challenges in current violence research is the lack of a commonly accepted definition of the core subject itself: violence (Heitmeyer and Hagan, 2002; Imbusch, 2002). Violence and the scientific as well as the general perception of what violence actually is have obviously changed over time (Aebi and Linde, 2016). Also, new dimensions such as psychological, verbal, economic, structural, symbolic, medial, and many other, have blurred the picture and vastly broadened the subject scope of violence research.

The Violence Research Lab work plan will be implemented as a joint team effort by all Violence Research Lab research group members and associates. Violence Research Lab’s activities have been grouped in several clusters and put in the competence of one Violence Research Lab member, according to his/her specific skills and competences and in line with previous research experience.

Main Research focuses of Violence Research Lab can be divided into 5 groups.

The scientific publications of Violence Research Lab will be produced and continuously submitted for publishing during the whole course of the funding period in the form of journal articles by all Violence Research Lab members.