The Netherlands has endorsed a unique system regarding the management, disclosure and screening of criminal records. Disclosure to third parties is strongly restricted, yet all (potential)... Show moreThe Netherlands has endorsed a unique system regarding the management, disclosure and screening of criminal records. Disclosure to third parties is strongly restricted, yet all (potential) employees can request a government agency to provide a risk assessment − known as a Certificate of Conduct (‘VOG’ in Dutch) − for every kind of employment application to determine whether they are fit for a given job. This article explains how and why this Dutch policy approach, deemed respectful of individual privacy rights, can nonetheless go hand in hand with the promotion, proliferation and pervasiveness of criminal record screening. It challenges the often dichotomic approach of the comparative literature on criminal record policies and helps understand that privacy protection alone cannot be fully equated with the rehabilitation and re-entry in society of people with a criminal history. Although the Dutch criminal record system avoids any unnecessary publicity of criminal record data, it nonetheless triggers adverse impairments on reintegration processes through stigmatisation and exclusion resulting from the ubiquitous use of Certificates of Conduct in the labour market. This questions the promotion of the Dutch screening instrument as an exemplary model for criminal record information sharing within Europe. 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
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
