In law enforcement animal assisted interventions have become popular. Unfortunately in evaluation studies often animal welfare is not included. The question rises to what extent this work might be harmful for participating animals and what alternatives we may offer. In this contribution we describe how robots have been introduced and are being used in the world of care. Might robots be a good alternative for animal participation in risky situations in law enforcement? We conclude by raising a number of pertinent questions for further research.

The contribution of sport to reintegrating offenders receives limited attention, both in science and in the practice of probation and the prison system. From the perspective of desistance, this literature study concluded that sport can contribute to the development of individual capital, social capital and an alternative identity. However, the effect of sport is not necessarily positive. There are risks of negative influence or the reinforcement of problem behaviour. In counselling offenders, sport should be combined with other interventions to reduce recidivism. A personalized approach is required, based on the risk-need-responsivity model.

Two major shifts in the Dutch policy have changed how social professionals work for migrants. These two refer to the change from a multicultural in an assimilation policy and a participative society where people are more dependent on their network or resilience for dealing with their needs. Based on our exploratory interviews with eight professionals and a focus group of six participants with a non-western cultural background we conclude that what migrants expect from social professionals and what they can offer do not match. It is due to contrasting views and cultural differences. This has a negative impact on their participation.

In 2014, the Dutch government abolished its ban on blasphemy, which had laid dormant in its criminal code for decades. Similar laws have been abolished in nine other jurisdictions in the West since an international campaign to this end started in 2015. This article first describes the tension between blasphemy laws and the freedom of expression. It then examines the Dutch position on blasphemy in its international context. This article argues against bans on blasphemy and specifically against a potential reintroduction of a de facto ban on blasphemy in the Netherlands. Moreover, it argues in favour of applying political pressure to abolish bans on blasphemy around the world as well as giving diplomatic support to those affected by these laws.

Issues regarding domestic violence and abuse of children are considered to be complex phenomena. Often ecological models are used in order to explain that on different levels – societal, group and individual – factors that are of influence. With some of these aspects can be dealt, while others are more complex to influence. In practice professionals with different disciplinary backgrounds need to collaborate in order to be of assistance to families in need. As a model for collaboration so-called Family Justice Centers (FJC) have been developed. This concept originated in the United States and is nowadays also adopted in Europe. In the Netherlands there is a lot of interest in these FJC’s. In this contribution the impression of two visits two FJC’s in neighboring region Flanders (Belgium) is described. What can we learn from their experiences? What are the challenges of international comparisons of forms of policies and collaborations regarding the care for families and children?

Previously we have published an article about misunderstandings regarding trauma and PTSS. In this contribution we deal with other popular beliefs regarding trauma. We focus on trauma among professionals as a consequence of their work. It is explained that a professional does not have to witness violence or another severe case directly in order to develop some form of trauma. Next to that we focus on the misconception that professionals suffering from trauma can receive treatment without support of their loved ones and social network. It is explained that social support is not only relevant but necessary in treating trauma effectively.

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.

The relationship between debts and delinquency is still unclear and knowledge about the prevalence and scope of debts among delinquents, which is needed to systematically explore this relationship, is lacking. The present study contains a systematic and scoping literature review on this relationship and analyzed data from risk assessment and client files (N = 250) from the Dutch probation service. Results show that debt and crime are strongly related and that debts among probation clients are highly prevalent and complex and underline the importance of inquiring more knowledge about debts as a potential risk factor for relapse during supervision.

Structured assessment of the risk of repeated offending has become common practice in the judicial system. However, much less attention has been paid to the way of communicating about the results of these risk assessments to the court or forensic settings. Research shows that the way of communicating about risks of relapse may affect decision-making by judges. In this article, these research results will be summarized and the different approaches to risk communication are discussed. Finally, recommendations are provided for clear communication about risk assessment results.

A comparative law study into the imposition of provisional custodial measures on juveniles in the Netherlands and Belgium in theory and practice.

Teen sexting is an increasingly common phenomenon. It is doubtful whether primary teen sexting – when minors take sexually pictures of themselves and share these voluntarily with peers – should fall within the scope of the Dutch offence description of child pornography. The German Penal Code contains an exception clause for primary teen sexting, whilst the Dutch Penal Code does not. In this article is argued, through comparative law research, that the Netherlands should also adopt an exception clause. This way not only the right of the child to protection against sexual abuse and exploitation, but also the right of the child to sexual development is safeguarded sufficiently.

The matter for this research is the request from the municipality of Eindhoven to map youth nuisance in the city of Eindhoven and to find explanations for differences between neighborhoods in order to provide policy makers with guidance. Quantitative and qualitative methods tested the social disorganization theory. Factors that may explain youth nuisance are a high degree of ethnic heterogeneity, low neighborhood participation and a high level of physical deterioration. In addition, youngsters who have unstructured leisure time prefer a place to hang out where there is no social control. Policy makers can use these insights to design their neighborhoods.

In this exploratory contribution, the central question is what will happen to students when they leave school and start looking for a job in security care. Three developments are addressed in this context: firstly, there are organizational changes: the municipal level has become increasingly important; in the second place, the complexity of the casuistry with which professionals are confronted is highlighted, and in the third place attention is paid to undesirable behavior with which professionals may be confronted while performing their work. What do these aspects mean for the resilience of the upcoming professional and the preparation for working life during training?

Violence in the name of honour has an ancient ring to it. But honour codes tend to be very flexible: cyber-space has given a new dimension to honour-related violence. Images and messages that are perceived as violations of honour also pass through social media. Unfortunately these stings on the good name of the family are quite difficult to remove. In this contribution is explained how violations of honour occur on the internet. Next to that will be described how currently in the Netherlands criminal law especially regarding vice is being adapted in order to deal with phenomena like sexting and sextortion. What are the consequences of these changes for dealing with modern forms of the violation of family honour?

As part of the project aiming to modernise the Dutch Code of Criminal Procedure the regulation on pre-trial detention is being revised. The proposal is to replace the conditional suspension of remand detention for both adults and juveniles with a new modality of provisional restraint. Furthermore, the proposal in its current form implies the exclusion of the alternative enforcement and the possibility of night detention. In this article, the consequences of the proposal on juvenile suspects are being discussed.

While studies on trust in the police are numerous, this is much less the case for other policing actors. It is important to examine this in the light of the increasing number and diversification of policing actors and their legitimacy. Using a survey, 894 youngsters were asked to evaluate their trust in actors involved in the policing of urban nightlife areas: the police, door staff, and CCTV. Results showed that people tend to trust human actors of surveillance more compared to technological actors, however different (demographic and contextual) factors nuance this pattern.