One of the few ways individuals can have meaningful contact with the outside world while incarcerated is through prison visits. Prison visitation has steadily gained academic attention in the past... Show moreOne of the few ways individuals can have meaningful contact with the outside world while incarcerated is through prison visits. Prison visitation has steadily gained academic attention in the past decade as theoretical accounts highlight that receiving visits in prison is beneficial and empirical studies largely reinforce this, leading to increased calls for stimulating prison visits. Yet not all results lead to unequivocal conclusions, and little is known about whether, how often, and from whom individuals receive visits and under which circumstances visits affect behavior, especially across different contexts and populations. Work on this topic is complicated as visitation is a heterogeneous experience and the social and incarceration contexts in which visits take place are complex. By taking a comprehensive approach and using multifaceted measures of visitation from several sources, the current dissertation furthers our understanding of prison visitation, its impacts, and its likelihood across people. This dissertation demonstrates that a substantial number of individuals do not receive visits in Dutch prison. While some individuals are less likely to receive visits, this dissertation finds that prison policies can also enable or hinder the receipt of visits. Receiving visits is not always positive for life in prison, but receiving frequent visits, especially before release, seems important for reentry success. Show less
Berghuis, M.L.; Palmen, J.M.H.; Nieuwbeerta, P. 2020
Although human rights have been heralded as the great hope for contemporary pursuits of equality and justice, they are increasingly challenged by present-day globalisation developments. This... Show moreAlthough human rights have been heralded as the great hope for contemporary pursuits of equality and justice, they are increasingly challenged by present-day globalisation developments. This includes the outsourcing of control to private actors and third states as well as the redrawing of membership categories through ‘crimmigration’ strategies. Looking at migration detention and imprisonment, this book examines to what extent human rights can remain of relevance as a protection framework where such globalisation trends occur. It does so by focusing on macro-level developments as well as on two case studies concerning Australia/Nauru and Norway/the Netherlands. Likening human rights to elephants, both being majestic yet critically endangered, the book argues that an interdisciplinary approach to human rights is long-overdue. Based on analysis of globalisation developments and the veracity and resilience of international human rights law instruments, including the ECHR and ICCPR, it presents an innovative multidimensional framework of protection that incorporates not only the value of human rights law, but also that of human rights morality, protest, and discourse. The book therewith positions human rights analysis squarely at the crossroads of law and social science, giving rise to both hope and concern for the future of the human rights project. Show less
A stable housing situation is considered to be an important condition for successful reentry after a period in prison. Despite this presumed importance of the housing situation of (ex-)prisoners,... Show moreA stable housing situation is considered to be an important condition for successful reentry after a period in prison. Despite this presumed importance of the housing situation of (ex-)prisoners, relatively few studies have been done on this topic, especially in the Netherlands. This thesis therefore provides insight into the housing andmobility of prisoners and ex-prisoners and their relation with recidivism. To answer research questions about housing, mobility and recidivism, it uses data from the Dutch Prison Project, a longitudinal, nationwide study on the consequences of imprisonment. One of the main findings was the large amount of variation in housing patterns of (ex-)prisoners. Many (ex-)prisoners are homeless once or several times before or after their stay in prison. Homelessness is much more common among (ex-)prisoners than it is in the general Dutch population. Furthermore, ex-prisoners move more often than people without a history of incarceration. Both homelessness and moving seem to increase the chances of recidivism. This study underlined the importance of policymakers focusing on all aspects of housing, in order to achieve the biggest reduction in recidivism. Show less
In the past decades a growing body of literature has been dedicated to explain desistance from offending behaviour, or to answer the question why some offenders quit crime and others do not.... Show moreIn the past decades a growing body of literature has been dedicated to explain desistance from offending behaviour, or to answer the question why some offenders quit crime and others do not. Currently, more psychological explanations infuse a prominent line of research emphasizing the importance of subjective, individual factors coming from within the offender, such as developing a new sense of self-identity. The aim of this study was to gain more insight into different dimensions of desistance, focusing on two aspects of identity: future expectations and conventional aspirations, and investigated how these related to (non-)criminal behaviour over time. Furthermore, this study examined how the parole experience interacted with the different dimensions of desistance. This qualitative, longitudinal study followed 28 male prisoners serving a long-term sentence in the Netherlands during their transition from prison to society. Findings illustrated the importance of individual factors such as believing in one’s own abilities in the context of pre-release expectations, the lack of conventional scripts and role models, and the contribution of parole supervision to the desistance process. Yet, it also revealed the pain of failure for men attempting to refrain from crime, mostly relating to structural support such as employment or housing issues. Show less
This dissertation aimed to study the functioning and effectiveness of the Prevention of Recidivism Program, a prison-based rehabilitation program aimed to reduce the re-offending rates of... Show moreThis dissertation aimed to study the functioning and effectiveness of the Prevention of Recidivism Program, a prison-based rehabilitation program aimed to reduce the re-offending rates of program participants, by conducting a plan-, process and product evaluation. The results indicated that the Prevention of Recidivism program could be considered promising, since it applied methods that were considered effective based on theoretical and empirical knowledge. In practice however, it was shown that program-execution was severely hampered by a number of issues; the program had rather strict inclusion criteria; faced considerable non-participation and non-completion rates; and often allocated offenders to inappropriate treatment. In the end, the program reached a limited group of offenders, most of whom completed a standard program, with no specific treatment aimed to target the factors that initially caused their criminal behavior. Consequently, the program was only shown effective for a small group of offenders that completed a standard treatment program. The most vital program-component, criminogenic need-specific treatment modules, was not shown effective. It was therefore concluded that the Prevention of Recidivism Program had for the most part not been effective in reaching its goals. Show less
Practically all prisoners eventually return to free society. Considering their high rates of subsequent recidivism, more insight into post-prison circumstances is vital. Such knowledge is scarce,... Show morePractically all prisoners eventually return to free society. Considering their high rates of subsequent recidivism, more insight into post-prison circumstances is vital. Such knowledge is scarce, and it also remained unclear thus far to what extent imprisonment caused these individuals to lose their integration with the community. Scholars, professionals and prisoners themselves note that the path to a successful reentry critically depends on the transition to employment. Yet, imprisonment bars offenders from employment during imprisonment and might also limit their post-prison employment prospects. Using data of the Prison Project – a longitudinal study of almost 2,000 prisoners – this thesis examines men’s labor market experiences before and after imprisonment and studies whether recidivism risks are lower among employed versus unemployed ex-prisoners. The results show that most prisoners face a severe human capital deficit even long before they enter prison. After release many remain unable to (re)integrate into the labor market. Only longer spells (exceeding six months) seem to further deteriorate the already poor employment prospects. Among working ex-prisoners, those who are able to return to a previous employer or hold down their job during the first half year following release recidivate significantly less. Show less
Legal actors typically decide case by case and rely on their own knowledge and experience to make legal decisions. However, an overview of what is happening in the legal system as a whole is... Show moreLegal actors typically decide case by case and rely on their own knowledge and experience to make legal decisions. However, an overview of what is happening in the legal system as a whole is often lacking. While many sentences are imposed by legal actors, much remains unknown about the determinants and consequences of sentencing at the aggregate level. How can legal actors impose deliberate and effective sentences? The Dutch Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure obviously give some guidance, but also leave judges with high levels of discretion. This study zooms in on offender characteristics as determinants of sentencing decisions and addresses questions about the consequences of certain sentences on criminal behavior with a specific focus on the incapacitation effect and recidivism after specific sanctions. By focusing on the determinants of decisions at different points in the sentencing process, and on the effects of sentences, this study creates a better understanding of the different facets of the criminal justice system. This study reveals offender based disparities in contemporary sentencing practices and points out that certain intended future benefits in terms of crime reduction through punishment do not appear to be achieved. Show less
