Beatriz Cruz Marquez

Beatriz Cruz Marquez is a Full Professor at the University of Cadiz, Spain, working in the Department of Public International Law, Criminal and Procedural Law within the Faculty of Law. She maintains additional affiliation with the University of Extremadura in Public Law and conducts research through the Andalusian Inter-University Institute of Criminology (IAIC) as part of research group SEJ378 "Sistema Penal, Criminalidad y Seguridad" (Penal System, Crime and Security).

Her educational background includes a doctorate from the University of Extremadura (2005) with the thesis "La medida de internamiento y sus alternativas en el derecho penal juvenil: fundamento y sistema," supervised by Dr. Joaquín Cuello Contreras.

Dr. Cruz Marquez specializes in Criminal Law and Criminology with particular expertise in gender-based violence, juvenile criminal justice, and social control mechanisms. Her research examines psychological and sociological aspects of violent offenders, especially regarding sexist attitudes, responsibility attribution, and intervention program effectiveness. She has extensively studied prostitution policies in Spain, analyzing their socio-criminological effects and legislative evolution. Her recent work addresses juvenile justice systems, focusing on culpability assessment and sentencing determinations for young violent offenders. Current research explores the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on criminal justice processes, including visibility of prostitution and perceptions of home confinement penalties.

Her scholarly output demonstrates significant interdisciplinary reach across criminology, gender studies, sociology, and legal scholarship. She publishes in both Spanish academic journals and international English-language publications, ensuring broad academic impact. Her research consistently addresses critical issues at the intersection of law, gender, and social justice, with special attention to vulnerable populations within the criminal justice system.

Dr. Cruz Marquez has served as principal investigator for multiple research projects funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, including "El agresor de violencia de género: tipologías, estrategias y tratamiento" (DER2010-16003) and "Derechos del condenado y límites derivados de la necesidad de pena" (DER2014-54764-R). These projects involved interdisciplinary teams from multiple Spanish universities and focused on gender violence offenders, examining their cognitive patterns and responses to intervention programs. Her empirical findings have practical implications for penitentiary treatment protocols and rehabilitation program design.

She is actively affiliated with the Andalusian Inter-University Institute of Criminology (IAIC), which serves as her primary research platform. Through research group SEJ378, she collaborates with criminologists and legal scholars on projects related to criminal justice systems, crime prevention, and security policies. Her work frequently involves empirical studies with prison populations and comparative analysis of legal frameworks across jurisdictions.