Freya Vander Laenen

Freya Vander Laenen is senior lecturer at Ghent University, Department of Criminology, Penal law and Social Law. She is a co-director of the multidisciplinary research group ‘Institute for International Research on Criminal Policy’ (IRCP). Her expertise focuses on vulnerable individuals (because of substance use, mental illness, and/or social exclusion) in contact with the criminal justice system. She has acquired many years of experience as a (co-)supervisor in interdisciplinary research on drug policy, offender rehabilitation and recovery. She is also (co-)promotor of several on-going PhD projects. As a promotor, she was part of the Geconcerteerde Onderzoeksactie (GOA) titled “Developing multidisciplinary strengths-based strategies for mentally ill offenders” – an interdisciplinary initiative from the faculties of Law and Criminology, Medicine and Health Sciences, and Psychology and Educational Sciences. Freya Vander Laenen is a member of the interfaculty Ghent University Research Consortium Crime, Criminology and Criminal Policy (IDC CCCP). This consortium facilitates and encourages amongst others research in the area of offending, desistance and recovery. She is a member various international networks, like the European Society of Criminology and the International Society for the Study of Drug Policy.