The current study examined the extent to which risk factors and treatment readiness were related to prison based treatment engagement (i.e. participation and completion), using a large sample of detainees who were a candidate for the Prevention of Recidivism program. Analyses showed that offenders who were treatment ready were over two times more likely to complete treatment programs, compared to offenders who were not. Risk factors did, for the most part, not correlate with treatment participation and completion. Outcomes underlined the importance of motivational aspects and showed the significance of enhancing treatment readiness amongst correctional resocialisation participants.

Using officially registered conviction history data, this study examines the criminal careers of 601 members of Dutch outlaw motorcycle gangs, identified as such by the Dutch police. We find that the average 1% er in our sample is a 44-year-old, Dutch-born male. The large majority of these 1% ers have been convicted for a crime at least once. One in four convicted 1% ers can be classified as a chronic offender accumulating over ten convictions from age 12 until 2013. The large majority of 1% ers experiences an adult onset of their officially registered criminal career, with almost half acquiring their first conviction when they are aged 30 or older, challenging the generality of criminology's accepted conclusions about criminal career development.

Prison policy in Belgium and the Netherlands is changing rapidly. While Belgium struggles with a persisting prison overcrowding, the Netherlands strongly cuts back on the prison system and is closing an increasing number of prisons. This introductory article to a special issue on detention starts with a short outline of recent changes in Dutch and Belgian prison policy, focusing on developments in detention capacity and prison population. Subsequently we present an overview of empirical criminological research in the Netherlands and Belgium, situated within the international literature, with a specific focus on studies regarding life in detention and effects of detention on prisoners' lives and on their social environment. Finally, we reflect upon existing detention research in both countries, e.g. in terms of gaps in research topics and methodology, and discuss some future developments.

Not only detainees, but also their spouses can experience negative consequences of imprisonment. Even though these negative consequences can be far-reaching, research in this area is scarce. This paper researches if detention causes female partners of male detainees in the Netherlands to experience negative reactions from family, friends and neighbours and if this causes changes in their social contacts. This study used longitudinal data from the Prison Project on 119 partners of detainees. Results show that many partners of detainees receive negative reactions from their network members. When partners of detainees experience negative reactions from their family in law, friends or neighbours, their contacts with those groups decrease. When partners of detainees experience negative reactions from their friends, their contact with their family increases.