The Stockholm Prize in Criminology
The Stockholm Prize in Criminology is an international prize in the field of criminology. It has been established under the aegis of the Swedish Ministry of Justice.
The winners of the Stockholm Prize in Criminology 2025 are Frances Crook and Bryan Stevenson. Read more about them here
Award cermony 2024
Nominations
Nomination criteria
The Stockholm Prize in Criminology is awarded for outstanding achievement in criminological research or in the application of research results by practitioners or scholars for the reduction of crime and the advancement of human rights.
The nominee must be a living physical person, willing and able to receive the Stockholm Prize in Criminology in person and give an acceptance speech on the date required.
Nominations may be made by any three individual criminologists, any society of criminology and/or other organization applying or producing criminology.
The nominations must be submitted in electronic form to the Stockholm Prize in Criminology Foundation via an online form, you can find it here, and made in English. The work to which reference is made in the nomination does not have to be in English, but an abstract in English for the works listed in the reference list is requested. Additional material, such as pdf files, should be submitted by e-mail to nominations@criminologyprize.com.
The price wants to promote
- increased knowledge regarding the causes of crime at both individual and structural levels
- more effective and humane public policy regarding the treatment of criminals
- increased knowledge of alternative crime prevention measures, both within the justice system and in civil society practices to help crime victims
- improved methods to reduce government abuse within the justice system on a global level.
The prize amount is at least 1 million SEK. The prize is awarded to one laureate annually but can also be shared by multiple laureates. An independent jury selects and appoints the laureates based on the received nominations. The jury consists of members who represent both research and practical application.
The prize was awarded for the first time in the City Hall in June 2006, and the ceremony coincides with the Stockholm Criminology Symposium.
Stockholm Criminology Symposium website
The nomination period for the 2026 award closes on 1 May 2025.
Recent winners of the Stockholm Prize in Criminology
The 2024 Stockholm Prize in Criminology is awarded to the American professors Gary LaFree and Tom R. Tyler for their research on democratic legitimacy and procedural justice in policing democracies. Read more.
Beatriz Magaloni was awarded the Stockholm Prize in Criminology 2023 at a ceremony in Stockholm City Hall in June 2023 for research providing important evidence that police organizations are vulnerable to populist demands for harsh police methods that violate the rule of law and which, in the long run, increase violence in society. Read more
All prize winners
The first Stockholm Prize in Criminology was awarded in 2006. So far the following scholars have received the prize.
2025
Frances Crook (United Kingdom) and Bryan Stevenson (USA)
2024
Gary LaFree and Tom R. Tyler (USA)
2023
Beatriz Magaloni (Mexiko/USA)
Read more
2022
Peggy Giordano (USA)
Francis T. Cullen (USA)
2021
Elijah Anderson (USA)
Read more
2020
Philip J. Cook (USA)
Franklin E. Zimring (USA)
2019
Ruth Dreifuss (Switzerland)
Peter Reuter (USA)
2018
Herman Goldstein (USA)
2017
Richard E. Tremblay (Canada/France/Ireland)
2016
Travis Hirschi (USA)
Cathy Spatz Widom (USA)
Per-Olof Wikström (Sweden/UK)
2015
Ronald V. Clarke (United Kingdom)
Patricia Mayhew (United Kingdom)
2014
Daniel S. Nagin (USA)
Joan Petersilia (USA)
2013
David Farrington (United Kingdom)
2012
Jan van Dijk (Netherlands)
2011
John H. Laub (USA)
Robert J. Sampson (USA)
2010
David Weisburd (Israel/USA)
2009
John Hagan (USA)
Eugenio Raúl Zaffaroni (Argentina)
2008
David Olds (USA)
Jonathan Shepherd (United Kingdom)
2007
Alfred Blumstein (USA)
Terrie E. Moffitt (USA)
2006
John Braithwaite (Australia)
Friedrich Lösel (Germany)
Announcements of prize winners
The announcement of the 2023 winner of The Stockholm Prize in Criminology:
The announcement of the 2022 winner of The Stockholm Prize in Criminology:
The announcement of the 2020 winner of The Stockholm Prize in Criminology:
The announcement of the 2019 winner of The Stockholm Prize in Criminology:
The announcement of the recipient of the Stockholm Prize in Criminology 2018:
The announcement of the recipient of the Stockholm Prize in Criminology 2017:
The announcement of the recipients of the Stockholm Prize in Criminology 2016:
The announcement of the recipients of the Stockholm Prize in Criminology 2015:
The prize ceremony
The prize was presented for the first time in June 2006 at the City Hall in Stockholm. The prize ceremony is held in conjunction with the Stockholm Criminology Symposium.
The prize jury
The prize selection processes are conducted by a jury, an independent international body that selects and appoints the prize recipient(s) from the nominations submitted. The jury consists of distinguished criminologists and practitioners of criminology, such as internationally recognised scholars and law enforcement officials and former prize recipients. The jury has chosen Lawrence Sherman and Jerzy Sarnecki to co-chair the jury.
Nominations for the jury to consider will be invited from universities, criminological associations and others.
In addition to the jury there is the Stockholm Prize in Criminology Foundation for strategic decision-making and financial management. The Foundation decides on donor-related and financial issues.
The prize foundation
The Stockholm Prize in Criminology Foundation
Initially, the Stockholm Prize in Criminology was financed through yearly private donations. However, given its success, and in order to secure its long-term financial viability, the Swedish Ministry of Justice and the Torsten Söderberg Foundation jointly decided to found a permanent, independent Foundation, the Stockholm Prize in Criminology Foundation.
A major official grant was approved by the Swedish Riksdag in December 2011 and on May 11, 2012 the agreement of the new Stockholm Prize in Criminology Foundation was signed. The Torsten Söderberg Foundation, with the support of the Ragnar Söderberg Foundation, has generously provided the necessary matching funds.
The Jerry Lee Foundation, original donor to the Stockholm Criminology Prize, as well as the Tokyo-based Hitachi Mirai Foundation will continue their support for the Prize as co-founders to the new Stockholm Prize in Criminology Foundation.
The Torsten Söderberg Foundation, founded in 1960 by Torsten and Wanja Söderberg and their sons, is dedicated to promoting scientific research and educational programmes, primarily within the fields of economy, medicine and jurisprudence. In 2012, the foundation awarded grants in surplus of 142 million SEK. The donations to the Stockholm Prize in Criminology Foundation have been made in honour of Med. Dr h.c. Edvard Söderberg.
The Jerry Lee Foundation is dedicated primarily to reducing crime and enhancing education through research on what works to achieve these goals. The foundation is committed to solving social problems associated with poverty, especially in American inner cities that suffer from concentrated poverty. The foundation’s special concerns are elementary education and crime.
The Hitachi Mirai Foundation is engaged in a wide range of activities including the prevention of juvenile crime and delinquency, the enhancement of correctional and rehabilitation services for prison inmates and reform school students, and the promotion of social understanding and cooperation on issues involving young people.
Historical background
In 2010, on the initiative of the Torsten Söderberg Foundation and the Swedish Government, steps were taken to ensure the permanence of the Stockholm Prize in Criminology by establishing an independent foundation - the Stockholm Prize in Criminology Foundation.
To secure the viability of the new foundation, this initiative was supported by major one-time contributions by the Torsten Söderberg Foundation and the Swedish Government.
The Jerry Lee Foundation transfered its earlier financial commitments from SPICA (the Stockholm Prize in Criminology Association) to the new foundation. The Hitachi Mirai Foundation undertook to support the new foundation at the current level of its annual contribution to SPICA; this commitment will continue for the foreseeable future, subject to the yearly approval of its board. The Hitachi Mirai Foundation will also endeavour to support and finance the participation of Japanese criminologists in the Stockholm Criminology Symposium.
The founders of the new foundation are the Torsten Söderberg Foundation and the Swedish Government. They are joined by the original donor to the Prize, Jerry Lee (through the Jerry Lee Foundation) and the Hitachi Mirai Foundation as co-founders of the new foundation.
On 11 May 2012, SPICA was dissolved and transferred its funds, rights and obligations, including the aforementioned agreement with the Jerry Lee Foundation, to the new Stockholm Prize in Criminology Foundation.
Read more about the establishment of the foundation (the Swedish Government website, in Swedish).
The board of the foundation
The board of the foundation consists of Anne Ramberg (chairman) and members Lars Hjalmar Wide, Maria Söderberg, Astrid Söderbergh Widding and Mattias Larsson. Secretary is Malin Eriksson.
Donations
Donations to the Stockholm Prize in Criminology are given annually and through out the year. The list of donations are therefore not complete before the award ceremony in June each year. Please contact the prize office if you are interested in making a donation to the prize.
Founders: Swedish Government and The Torsten Söderberg Foundation
Co-founders: Jerry Lee Foundation and The Hitachi Mirai Foundation
Original donor: Jerry Lee
Other donors: Japanese Correctional Association and Ragnar Söderberg Foundation
Contact
Questions about the Symposium, the Prize or the Award Ceremony?
- If you have questions or concerns relating to the Stockholm Criminology Symposium or the Award Ceremony, please contact the Symposium Office at, symposium@bra.se
- If you have questions or concerns relating to the Stockholm Prize in Criminology, please contact the Prize Office at, criminologyprize@su.se
The prize
Information
Malin Eriksson, Prize Office, Stockholm University
e-mail: criminologyprize@su.se
The symposium
Symposium Office
e-mail: symposium@bra.se
The jury
Jerzy Sarnecki, co-chairman
e-mail: jerzy.sarnecki@criminology.su.se
Lawrence W. Sherman, co-chairman
e-mail: ls434@cam.ac.uk
Last updated: October 29, 2024
Source: Department of Criminology