Criminological Service
In the Federal Republic of Germany, criminological services are institutions of the justice ministries of the federal states. You conduct your own research in the penal institutions and coordinate external research that requires approval.
History, structure and tasks of the criminological services
Since prison research was rarely carried out until the 1980s and reliable knowledge about the reality of the prison system was scarce, the judicial authorities were recommended in the former Federal Prison Act of 1977 to set up criminological services (Section 166). These were hesitantly established. In some federal states there are now well-developed research institutes as criminological services, for example in Baden-Württemberg, Lower Saxony and Saxony. In other federal states, under the name of criminological service (with a contact address), inquiries about external research are only checked and coordinated after approval.
The central tasks of the criminological services include the collection and statistical analysis of data from the prison system. The focus is particularly on the effectiveness of the sanctions and the execution of treatment . In addition, their employees participate in training courses for judicial employees and advise the decision-makers in the ministries.