While a life sentence means life in prison in the Netherlands, prisoners serving a life sentence (‘lifers’) in England and Wales are eligible for conditional release (upon discretion of the parole board) after serving a minimum term. Life after life imprisonment by Catherine Appleton (2010) provides a detailed insight into the post-release experiences of 138 lifers and the supervision of this group by the probation service. Appleton has collected data from files and by interviewing 113 probation officers and 37 lifers, including 9 who were back in prison. Qualitative analysis revealed that self-efficacy and normality (e.g. a stable job and family life) are important in the process of desistance and that the probation service plays a valued supportive role. Statistical analysis further showed that alcohol abuse, sex offending, a history of sexual abuse and a poor relationship with one’s probation officer are significant predictors of return to prison.

This is a review of the book (dissertation) Orde in veiligheid. Een dynamisch perspectief (Order in security; a dynamic perspective) from the Dutch criminologist and philosopher Marc Schuilenburg. The reviewer characterises the book as ‘courageous’ because of its multidisciplinary approach of the phenomenon ‘public private partnerships’ (ppp’s) in security, its rupture with solidified thinking and its use of empirical studies to show what really happens in the workplace of ppp’s. The reviewer welcomes the application of concepts of the French philosophers Foucault, Deleuze and Tarde, but feels at the same time that the author could have done more to explain their thinking. Also he disagrees with the author about the role of the state in security governance, which is according to the reviewer much more dominant than suggested in this book.