Research:

1. Victimology: Post-traumatic stress disorder and post-traumatic growth among terror victims; Combat stress reaction; Music therapy with terror victims.

2. Aggression, crime and music: Music in prison; Dangerous music; Collective singing and violence.

3. Family members of offenders.

The areas of research in which I am involved are unique in their interdisciplinary nature, drawing from criminology, as well as from victimology and musicology/music therapy. The contribution of the research projects which I have undertaken in various fields of interest and a variety of methodologies (incorporating quantitative, qualitative and mixed method paradigms) include studies focusing on: post-traumatized terror victims, group music therapy for post-traumatized victims, theory in victimology. In addition, several articles contribute to the field of aggression, crime and music and include studies dealing with the impact of relaxing music on prisoners' levels of anxiety and anger, the meaning of music for prisoners, rap music in gangs and "Problem Music".

Prof. Moshe Bensimon is a professor in the Department of Criminology and served for many years as head of the Master’s Program in Rehabilitation Criminology. In addition, Prof. Bensimon teaches in the Music Therapy Program and in the Visual Arts Therapy Program at Bar-Ilan University. He has been teaching in the Department of Criminology since 2000. He completed his doctoral dissertation in the Department of Criminology in 2005 on the topic “Music Therapy for Individuals with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in a Group Setting,” and in 2011 completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the School of Social Work at Tel Aviv University. Alongside his criminological studies, Prof. Bensimon also studied in the Music Therapy Program at Bar-Ilan University, where he has been a faculty member for many years.

As a criminologist, victimologist, and music therapist, Prof. Bensimon integrates these fields in his research. To date, he has published over 60 articles and book chapters dealing with the relationship between music and aggression, music in prison, and music therapy with incarcerated and former incarcerated individuals. In recent years, Prof. Bensimon’s research has focused on ways in which music therapy can support trauma victims and individuals struggling with substance addiction.