Discovering the Best Criminology Program in Poland: Contemplation of the Month-long Sabbatical at the University of Białystok

Abstract

This article traces the friendship between Professor Emil Pływaczewski and me over a quarter of a century with an emphasis on my impressions of Poland in general and Białystok School of Criminology in particular during my recent one-month stay. While I have been fascinated by the best criminology program growing from none to the current prominence, I argue that criminology’s potential as avant-garde of legal reform before the passage of law and as evidence-based evaluation has not been fully developed in Poland. International criminology as a method permeates every aspect of research. As a progressive and meliorative major, criminology could further promote good and inclusive society and play a role in closing the gap between the survivalist culture and self-expressionist culture by strengthening justice-based institutional structure and the rule of law through ramping-up global connectivity among international scholars.