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The Stockholm Prize in Criminology

2019 Prize winners Prof. Peter Reuter and Ruth Dreifuss.

2019 Prize winners Prof. Peter Reuter and Ruth Dreifuss. Photo: Brå

The Stockholm Prize in Criminology is an international prize in the field of criminology. The prize is awarded for outstanding achievements in criminological research or for the application of research results by practitioners for the reduction of crime and the advancement of human rights.

Professor Herman Goldstein

Prof Herman Goldstein

Prize winners 2024

Gary LaFree, University of Maryland, USA and Tom R. Tyler, Yale University, USA have been awarded the Stockholm Prize in Criminology 2024 for their respective research on legitimacy and procedural justice in policing democracies. The prize winners' research indicates that if the police apply principles of treating citizens correctly, respectfully and without prejudice, even those citizens who break the law, this can lead to a reduction in the propensity for crime on an individual level and also to a reduction in crime on a societal level.

2024 Prize winners Gary LaFree and Tom R. Tyler

2024 Prize winners Gary LaFree and Tom R. Tyler. Photo: LaFree: John Consoli/University of Maryland and Yale Law School

Learn more about the winners (Stockholm University press release)

About the prize

The objectives of The Stockholm Prize in Criminology are to promote the development of:

  • improved knowledge on causes of crime on an individual and structural level
  • more effective and humane public policies for dealing with criminal offenders
  • greater knowledge of alternative crime prevention strategies inside and outside the judicial system
  • policies for helping the victims of crime
  • better ways to reduce the global problem of illegal or abusive practices that may occur in the administration of justice.

The prize is awarded to one recipient annually, with the possibility of being shared between co-recipients. The prize amounts to at least SEK 1,000,000. An independent international jury selects and appoints the prize recipient(s) from the nominations submitted.

About the jury

The jury consists of distinguished criminologists and practitioners of criminology, such as internationally recognized scholars, law enforcement officials and former prize recipients.

To read more about the Stockholm Prize in Criminology, the prize winners, the jury, the board of the foundation and donors, please visit Stockholm University's website.