Prison visitation is important for protecting against social isolation during imprisonment. It is also essential for maintaining contacts that are important for life in prison and after release. It is therefore not surprising that both nationally and internationally important policy measures and scientific research have been undertaken on the topic. Nationally, however, limited scientific research is available regarding how many, how often and from whom prisoners receive visits, how visits are experienced and the possible effects of visitation, thus leaving many questions unanswered. Meanwhile, in the past ten years great changes have been made to visitation in Dutch prison policy and practice. Given these recent developments, both scientists and practitioners could benefit from an overview of the current state of affairs of visitation. This article aims to bridge the gap between research, policy and practice by summarizing findings from the Life in Custody study. This study includes a description of how visitation is organized legally, at the policy level and in practice, a thorough review of prior research on visitation and an analysis of the most recent national data on the prevalence and frequency of visitation, while considering important differences between prisoners and prisons.

This contribution reflects on the criminological meaning of the still ongoing trend of digitalisation. What does this mean for crime as a phenomenon and for the explanation of criminal behaviour? Not only did we see the emergence of new types of offending, also the context of crime has changed. In principle, the underlying explanatory processes can remain the same, but their application in the online world is complex and deserves further attention. Online social interactions are not only important for online crime, but also for traditional offenses. However, systematic research on how this actually takes place is scarce.

Two developments are discussed that have a significant influence on the scope and content of the penology of the future, but otherwise have little to do with each other: The expansion of the sentencing field has resulted in a completely fluid research field. However, the important questions of penology can only be answered by integrally mapping and analyzing that sentencing field. For that reason, penology should radically free itself of the limitation of its field of research to the penal sanction. Ongoing insight into the functioning of the brain and the predictability of behavior on the basis of algorithms shine a different light on the portraits of mankind on which we base punishment. It also exposes a range of new possibilities to influence behavior and prevent criminal behavior. It is also part of the research field of penology to question which of those possibilities we want to use and under which conditions.

The operational leader, the ‘gold commander’, fulfils a crucial function in crisis- and disaster management in the Netherlands. He is held responsible for the total coordination of all collaborating emergency services and supports/advises the Mayor, the Commander in Chief. Unfortunately, this function has never been very effective in practise, as shown by many evaluations. From a scientific point of view, it is easy to understand why the operational leader cannot be effective in the Dutch crisis management organisation. The operational leader has no authorities and has been seated in an emergency operation centre far from the Mayor. This article examines why this issue has not been solved, despite 30 years of studying and adjusting the Dutch crisis management organisation.

The first national research into church formation among Roman Catholic migrants in the Netherlands dates from the year 2006. Since then many changes took place within these communities. However, there is not a single institution that collects their addresses and data. Policymakers, scholars or journalists do not have access to recent information. Based on questions about their development and composition, this article updates information about these church communities and places them in a broader historical context. One of the most significant findings in this article concerns the stability of their regular parishioners, that contrasts with the national trend in Roman Catholic Church, which is constantly dealing with a declining amount of members.

De regeling van de voorlopige hechtenis verandert mogelijk ingrijpend, blijkens het conceptwetsvoorstel tot vaststelling van Boek 2 van het nieuwe Wetboek van Strafvordering. De rechter krijgt ingevolge dit voorstel de mogelijkheid om in plaats van de voorlopige hechtenis de voorlopige vrijheidsbeperking te bevelen en de schorsing van de voorlopige hechtenis komt te vervallen. De ultimum remedium-gedachte rechtvaardigt dat gekozen wordt voor een systeem waarin de voorlopige vrijheidsbeperking voorop staat. Dat stelsel geniet ook op Europees niveau de voorkeur. De keuze voor dit systeem is evenwel niet geheel zonder risico’s en het vooropstellen van de voorlopige vrijheidsbeperking zal de praktijk ook voor nieuwe uitdagingen stellen. In deze bijdrage worden deze risico’s besproken en wordt een aantal aanbevelingen gedaan tot aanpassing van het voorliggende conceptwetsvoorstel.

De hulpofficier van justitie is een zeer belangrijke figuur in de Nederlandse strafrechtspleging. Ondanks de soms vergaande bevoegdheden van de hulpofficier is er weinig duidelijkheid over de competenties waarover de 4000 Nederlandse hulpofficieren moeten beschikken. Al in 2013 is door minister, politie en OM aangekondigd dat er gewerkt gaat worden aan een officier ‘nieuwe stijl’, met een versterkte rol en gekoppeld aan een nieuwe, betere opleiding. Welke visie aan deze versterking ten grondslag ligt, is echter niet bekend. Desalniettemin wordt ook in de moderniseringsoperatie voor het Wetboek van Strafvordering gezinspeeld op de nieuwe, versterkte positie van de hulpofficier. In dit artikel wordt ingegaan op de rol van de hulpofficier en (het gebrek aan) de discussie daarover. Vervolgens worden de plannen voor de versterkte rol van de hulpofficier (voor zover bekend) besproken en worden de in het kader van de modernisering van het Wetboek van Strafvordering voorgestelde veranderingen tegen het licht gehouden. Door een gebrek aan (informatie over een) duidelijke visie en een rommelig toegelicht conceptwetsvoorstel is het vooralsnog lastig om enthousiast te worden.

Het fonds voor gemene rekening als rechtsvorm is in Nederland niet gecodificeerd. Een bewaarentiteit wordt daarom gebruikt om vermogensscheiding te bewerkstelligen. Buitenlandse jurisdicties kennen een dergelijke entiteit niet. Codificatie van deze rechtsvorm zorgt daar al voor de benodigde vermogensscheiding. De Nederlandse bewaarentiteit is daarom ‘een vreemde eend in de bijt’.

According to police statistics, juvenile crime in the Netherlands decreased annually since 2007. Explanations for the crime drop primarily focused on single macro explanations, such as increasing prosperity, focused policing or decreasing alcohol use. The prevalence of self-reported delinquency also dropped in the period 2005 till 2015. In three consecutive cohorts of the Youth Delinquency Survey (YDS; 2005, 2010, 2015) changes in exposure to risk and protective factors offered potential explanations for the drop in juvenile delinquency. Compared to previous cohorts, juveniles in the 2015-cohort were less exposed to risk factors like alcohol use and delinquent friends, and more exposed to protective factors like perceived emotional support, solicitation and monitoring by parents. Amongst serious delinquents, however, the exposure to individual risk behavior and delinquent friends was stable over time. Serious delinquents also showed stability over the cohorts in frequency and seriousness of offenses. The vulnerability for risk and protective factors was consistent amongst the three cohorts, regardless the seriousness of delinquency. Changing social cultural attitudes towards risk behavior, e.g. delinquency, could be an additional explanation for the juvenile crime drop. Implications for theory and policy are discussed.

De curator krijgt een alsmaar toenemende rol met betrekking tot behartiging van maatschappelijke belangen zoals faillissementsfraudebestrijding. Met het wetsvoorstel versterking positie curator krijgt de curator een extra wettelijke taak die strekt tot faillissementsfraudebestrijding. De auteur analyseert, adresseert en bespreekt in dit artikel de voor- en nadelen van deze taak.

Recent figures indicate that certain drug markets, or at least parts of it, shift from the Netherlands to Belgium. However, it is still unclear whether it is a displacement of some parts of the illicit drug markets or whether it should be seen as a diversification of certain parts of some illicit drug markets in terms of spreading of risks and taking profit of new opportunities. In this respect, this article contributes to an ongoing research (DISMARK) by providing an overview of drug policy measures most recently taken by the Netherlands, from a Belgian point of view, and by trying to link these developments to drug-related trends in Belgium. It is clear that both countries will have to invest in a common approach of their common drug problems. However, it is not yet possible to draw any profound conclusions on the actual displacement of illicit drug markets.

Since 2008 juvenile crime rates in the Netherlands annually decreased. The decrease is shown in official police and justice crime, as well as in self-reported delinquency. However, this crime drop mainly accounts traditional offline crime, whereas little is known about cybercrime amongst juveniles and young adults. According to the Juvenile Crime Monitor, approximately 20% of juveniles and young adults report involvement in cyber or digitized delinquency. Trends with regard to cyber or digitized crime are not (yet) available. Previous research indicates that multiple factors are responsible for the crime drop amongst juveniles. These explanations mainly regard to offline factors and are primarily focused on traditional offline crime. In this article the increased use of social media is also discussed as a potential explanation.

Registered youth crime figures in the Netherlands show a spectacular downward trend from 2007 (minus 60%). In this article the authors show that this trend can be observed in a lot of other countries. They argue that a number of international developments has created a climate favorable for juvenile crime reduction: more (situational) crime prevention, less use of alcohol, more commitment to schooling, more satisfaction with living conditions, and changing activity patterns during leisure time. For the Netherlands this coincides with a diminished willingness of the Dutch police to follow up on suspicions that a youngster has committed a minor offense. The authors discuss the worldwide dissemination of smartphones and online games that started in 2006/2007, as well as the subsequent changes in the use of free time, which might have contributed to juvenile crime reduction.

More than forty organizations in security, healthcare and social services work together in the ‘Top600 Project’, aimed at those committing ‘high-impact crimes’. The goal is to improve safety in and around Amsterdam by achieving a permanent change in the behavior of these perpetrators. This includes both a reduction in recidivism of high-impact crimes and an increase in their self-reliance in order to decrease their reliance on crime. To achieve this, special case managers strive to get a clear perspective on the (often complex) lives of these Top600 persons. These managers (‘regisseurs’) can connect to all the organizations concerned and ensure that their efforts are coordinated, aligned and mutually strengthening. The project includes preventing the Top600 persons’ (younger) brothers and sisters from following their siblings on a path of crime. It works through a collective focus and a tailor-made approach for each person, by exercising control on three levels (administrative, civil, and case level), by central monitoring of the results and - from there - by resolving structural flaws in the system.

This contribution explores the hypothesis that the rise of social media use and smartphone possession since 2007 contributed substantially to the international decrease in juvenile crime. The author addresses three processes that aid in understanding how social media and smartphones may have contributed to decreasing juvenile crime statistics. First, activity patterns of young people may have been altered in such a way that substantial less time is spent with unstructured socializing in public places. Second, the rise of social media may have led to additional and alternative possibilities to fulfill psychological and social needs of adolescents, taking away many immaterial motivations for juvenile crime. Third, it is possible that social media and smartphone use have facilitated a shift from offline to online juvenile crime, which is less detected and visible in official crime figures. While these theoretical arguments make the hypothesis plausible, research is needed to provide empirical evidence on the role of social media and smartphones in juvenile crime.

Similar to the total youth crime, the share of Moroccan boys and men who are suspected of committing a crime is decreasing. The percentage of suspects among male Moroccan teens and early twenties declined with as much as 35% in the period from 2005 to 2015. However, the share of 12- to 24-year-old males with a Dutch background who were suspected of committing a crime, declined even more sharply. Therefore, the overrepresentation of Moroccans increased. The increased amount of cultural dissonance among Moroccan boys and young adults seems to be the most probable explanation for the increased overrepresentation of this group in recorded crime. Cultural dissonance is where migrants have to steer a middle course between two highly contrasting cultures, namely the culture of their country of origin (of their parents) and that of the country in which they are residing.