Jost Reinecke

Jost Reinecke ( born August 20, 1957 in Dusseldorf ) is a German sociologist.

Reinecke studied 1977-1984 sociology, history and social education at the University of Duisburg in 1990 and in sociology at the University of Giessen with the work " interviewer and respondent behavior: theoretical approaches and methodological concepts " doctorate. Reviewers of the work were Peter Schmidt and Achim Schrader. After a period of research (1993-1994) at the Department of Psychology at the University of Massachusetts ( Amherst ), he habilitated in 1996 at the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität in Münster.

From 2001 to 2005, Reinecke Professor at the University of Trier ( Empirical Social Research / Methodology ) and since 2005 he is professor at the University of Bielefeld ( Quantitative Methods of Social Research). His research focuses on the theoretical and empirical importance of rational choice theory in the social sciences; also health, AIDS prevention and contraception in adolescents and young adults; Development of juvenile delinquency in longitudinal section; Structural equation models; Panel analyzes. Among others, he is on the board of the Institute for Interdisciplinary Research on Conflict and Violence Research at the University of Bielefeld.

Since 2002, there will be a panel study with 3400 Duisburg adolescents under the auspices Reinecke and the Münster criminologists Klaus Boers. At the beginning of the survey respondents were 13 years old ( 7th grade ), the investigation should be continued until their 30th birthday. The previously presented results refer to the dark field of juvenile delinquency. A key finding is the fact that there is a significant decrease of the offenses as early as 15 years of age. Even with the so-called intensive perpetrators was a reduction in offenses from 16 years to find. The study is part of the DFG-funded project crime in the modern city, under which 2000 and 2003, a panel study with adolescents Münster was carried out between the years.