Part I.

Part II.

Full word document

Dear comrades and colleagues of the European Group

We hope this edition of the newsletter finds you and your family and friends safe and well.

There is – we are sure – little need to highlight we are all in unprecedented times and no doubt experiencing significant changes, individually and socially. We are sending solidarity to all members in the knowledge that we will each deal with the increased fears, restrictions and uncertainties in different ways, but are above all hopeful we all come out safe and strong as things progress.

This newsletter is therefore largely dedicated to some key pressing issues for the European Group, not least the potential for impacts on civil liberties, human rights and already visible restrictions in social control. Whilst we support measures to curtail the spread of Covid-19/Coronavirus, we are mindful that our collective commitment should stay focussed on issues around the unprecedented state controls and decisions as the pandemic progresses, and particularly in the aftermath – see a proposal in pages 5-6.

As you may have seen, the current events have also led us to make the decision to suspend the 48th Annual Conference for the Study of Deviance and Social Control (further information below). This was a difficult decision to make, but was undertaken with consultation with lead organisers, and with the centralisation of the wellbeing of our friends and colleagues in Italy who have been working hard under pressing (to say the least) circumstances. We hope to reconvene our conference in December, but will make this decision in due course. We thank our colleagues for everything they have done to develop us this far – stay well.

In the meantime, we are taking the much-needed opportunity to send some very good news – a welcome to the newest member of the European Group, Myles David Shafran-Tucker! Born on 7th March (just in time for International Women’s Day!) at 9lbs. Massive congratulations to Katie Tucker and partner Daniel on this lovely news – we wish them well and look forward to meeting him in person at the next conference.

Welcome Myles, to the world and the European Group!