In gesprek met Hells Angels MC: overwegingen, uitdagingen en lessen

Talking to Hells Angels MC: reflections, challenges and lessons In criminology, research is conducted into a population that is in principle unknown, and is assumed to be unwilling to become known and studied. Scientific research into the target groups of crime policies is typically based on interviews with professionals or information from police systems. Similarly, criminological research into outlaw biker clubs is mainly based on police register data and interviews with, for example, police officers. In this article, the authors describe their experiences with interviewing 24 members of the Dutch Hells Angels MC and the considerations made during the research. They do this based on three periods: before, during, and after the interviews. The article concludes with some key lessons for future research.

Authors

Publication Details

Journal
Tijdschrift voor Criminologie
Published
2025-07-01
DOI
https://doi.org/10.5553/tvc/0165182x2025067001002
Primary Topic
Crime Patterns and Interventions
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
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article

In gesprek met Hells Angels MC: overwegingen, uitdagingen en lessen

Teun van Ruitenburg, Robby Roks, Sjoukje van Deuren
Tijdschrift voor Criminologie
Crime Patterns and Interventions
article

In gesprek met Hells Angels MC: overwegingen, uitdagingen en lessen

Teun van Ruitenburg, Robby Roks, Sjoukje van Deuren
article en

Abstract

Talking to Hells Angels MC: reflections, challenges and lessons In criminology, research is conducted into a population that is in principle unknown, and is assumed to be unwilling to become known and studied. Scientific research into the target groups of crime policies is typically based on interviews with professionals or information from police systems. Similarly, criminological research into outlaw biker clubs is mainly based on police register data and interviews with, for example, police officers. In this article, the authors describe their experiences with interviewing 24 members of the Dutch Hells Angels MC and the considerations made during the research. They do this based on three periods: before, during, and after the interviews. The article concludes with some key lessons for future research.

Tijdschrift voor CriminologieVol. 67(1)
Openalex Percentile: Top 79%
Crime Patterns and Interventions
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