Call for Abstracts
ForenSoc ’27 welcomes abstract submissions for oral and poster presentations on a broad range of topics related to forensic social sciences. Contributions from forensic sciences, social sciences, law, psychology, criminology, sociology, social work, medicine, policing, linguistics, communication, media studies, digital society, human rights, child protection, and related fields are welcome.
Abstracts are welcome under the broad conference themes listed below. These themes are intended as guiding areas and do not limit the scope of submissions. Interdisciplinary contributions crossing more than one theme are particularly welcome. The topics listed under each theme are indicative rather than exhaustive. Authors may select “Other related topic” in the submission form if their work does not clearly fall under one of the listed themes.
Conference Themes
Abstracts are invited on topics including, but not limited to:
1. Crime, Behaviour & Justice
Criminology and criminal behaviour; behavioural analysis and offender profiling; investigative psychology; investigative interviewing; eyewitness testimony, memory and identification; false confessions; miscarriages of justice and wrongful convictions; white-collar and corporate crime; corrections, rehabilitation and reintegration; probation and parole; restorative justice; and comparative approaches to crime and criminal justice.
2. Violence, Vulnerability & Victimization
Victimology; interpersonal and domestic violence; gender-based violence and femicide; sexual violence and sexual offending; human trafficking and exploitation; hate crime and identity-based violence; elder abuse and vulnerable adults; vulnerability and revictimization; victim support; secondary victimization; and social and institutional responses to violence.
3. Mind, Trauma & Forensic Mental Health
Forensic psychology and psychiatry; trauma and the psychological consequences of victimization; mental health in forensic and justice settings; criminal responsibility and legal competency; violence and risk assessment; psychological assessment in legal contexts; suicide and self-harm in forensic settings; psychological autopsy; trauma-informed practice; and the relationship between mental health, behaviour and justice.
4. Society, Institutions & Forensic Practice
Sociology of forensic and justice institutions; forensic social work and psychosocial practice; human factors and cognitive bias; professional decision-making; expert evidence and expert–court communication; ethics and professional responsibility; institutional and occupational culture; police and forensic organizational culture; professional wellbeing, burnout and secondary trauma; public trust in forensic institutions; cultural and cross-cultural dimensions of forensic practice; and the social and human dimensions of missing persons, mass fatalities and disaster victim identification.
5. Law, Rights & Human-Centered Justice
Human rights and forensic practice; access to justice; procedural fairness and due process; legal and ethical dimensions of forensic evidence; vulnerable persons within justice systems; equality, discrimination and marginalized communities; migration and displacement; social, legal and human-rights dimensions of humanitarian forensics; missing persons and the rights of families; deaths in custody; transitional and post-conflict justice; and human-centered approaches to legal and forensic systems.
6. Children, Families & Protection
Child abuse and neglect; child sexual abuse and exploitation; online child exploitation; children exposed to domestic and family violence; child witnesses and victims; forensic and investigative interviewing of children; juvenile justice; safeguarding and child protection systems; family vulnerability; custody and family-related forensic issues; adverse childhood experiences; and multidisciplinary responses to children and families.
7. Language, Media, Communication in Crime and Justice
Forensic linguistics; linguistic profiling; authorship analysis and attribution; forensic discourse analysis; language in police interviews, investigations and legal proceedings; threatening and harmful communications; language and identity in forensic contexts; media representations of crime and justice; crime reporting and sensationalism; social media narratives; public perceptions of crime, forensic science and justice; and communication between forensic professionals, institutions and the public.
8. Digital Society, Technology & Emerging Harms
Cybercrime and technology-facilitated offending; online abuse and harassment; digital victimization; online radicalization and extremism; misinformation and disinformation; artificial intelligence and algorithmic decision-making; algorithmic bias and justice; surveillance, privacy and digital rights; social media and offending behaviour; digital evidence in social and behavioural contexts; technology-facilitated coercion and exploitation; and emerging ethical and social challenges associated with new technologies.
Presentation Types
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ForenSoc ’27 welcomes abstract submissions for oral and poster presentations. Oral and poster presentations may be delivered onsite or online, depending on the selected participation format and programme availability.
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The selected presentation type indicates the author’s preference. Final allocation as oral or poster presentation will be determined by the Scientific Committee.
Registration Requirement for Presenting Authors
Accepted abstracts will be included in the final scientific programme only after the presenting author has completed registration within the announced deadline.
Acceptance notifications will be sent before the Early Bird Registration Deadline. Presenting authors will have time to complete their registration at the early bird rate after receiving the acceptance notification. After the Early Bird Registration Deadline, standard registration fees will apply.
Abstract Submission Guidelines
Abstracts should be written in English and should not exceed 300 words. Abstracts may be structured or unstructured depending on the nature of the study. Empirical studies may follow a structured format such as Background, Aim, Methods, Results, and Conclusion, while theoretical, legal, conceptual, policy-oriented, or practice-based submissions may use an appropriate narrative format.
The abstract title should be concise and should clearly reflect the content of the submission. Authors may include up to five keywords.