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.

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.

The Dutch police has embraced the concept of problem-oriented policing as an effective strategy to combat crime. This police strategy is based on information, analyses and cooperation with relevant stakeholders outside the police. The authors argue that the implementation of the concept of problem-oriented policing is essentially still in an infant stage due to tenacious internal en inter-organizational difficulties. More fundamental, the concept of problem-oriented policing is used in an intuitive and superficial manner, instead of introducing a more rigorous analytical one. Suggested is a more modest and disciplined approach, which functions not as an alternative for, but as a supplement to classical reactive policing.

The main difference between various forms of prevention of organised crime is between primary and secondary prevention on the one hand and tertiary prevention on the other. The latter is directed at diminishing an already existing problem. This article deals with social conditions which promote the arising of organised crime and with relevant specifically vulnerable factors and sectors (primary and secondary prevention). The authors argue that in a way every society gets the organised crime it deserves. Organising and regulating society often has the side effect of creating opportunities for individuals and groups which gain profit by exploiting the illegal markets that arise as a consequence of regulations. Whether the desire for regulation or the prevention of (organised) crime should prevail is a topic for political and social debate.