In the fight against terrorism, administrative measures are increasingly applied. This is called the administrative approach on terrorism. A recent bill seeks to the withdrawal of the Dutch citizenship of those who are suspected of certain terrorist activities abroad and when such is needed in the context of national security. Under this bill it is made possible to withdraw the Dutch citizenship of those who voluntarily join a terrorist group abroad. The idea behind this proposed administrative measure is to protect the national security of the Netherlands, by banning those who voluntarily joined a jihadi organization and pose a threat to national security due to their return. The bill has several major drawbacks: the limited legal protection of the persons concerned, the possible criminal nature of this measure and doubts about its effectiveness.

One of the most widely implemented behavioral programs for adult offenders in the Netherlands is a cognitive skills training called CoVa. The training is an adapted version of the Enhanced Thinking Skills program (ETS). This paper reports on the findings of several impact studies on the effectiveness of CoVa and ETS. Special attention is paid to a recent study on the measured change in cognitive skills before and after the training and a recent comparative recidivism study. The majority of studies on CoVa and ETS show positive indications of the effectiveness of the training programs. In the Netherlands the effect sizes are small, but some English studies on ETS reveal large effects. The paper discusses possible explanations for this outcome and examines the relevance of the research findings for the present version of the CoVa-training.

Surinamese and Dutch Caribbean migrants have been overrepresented in (official) Dutch crime statistics for years. From Hirschi’s Social Control Theory and the Theory of African-American Offending, this study investigates to what degree racism based on skin color is related to self-reported offending among Surinam and Dutch Caribbean migrants in The Netherlands. A total of 91 online questionnaires were filled out regarding skin color, experiences with racism, and offending. Results show that darker-skinned respondents experienced more racism and that more racism was reported by the respondents who committed more offenses; especially regarding violent and drug-related offenses.

A mentally ill patient who commits a violent crime may undergo forced forensic psychiatric admission. Without treatment, he remains dangerous. Sometimes still takes place rehabilitation even though he is not treated.
The guidance should then be firmly focused on the continuing dangerousness, in order to prevent a recidivism.
Taking the responsibility for the offense by the inmate, the adherence of him to surveillance and the risk of recidivism must be weighed and confronted together when taking the decision on continuation of the forced admission.

This article discusses the importance of reflection for prison staff. Their work is both physical and emotionally incriminating. That increases risk on turnover, burn-out, psychosomatic diseases and negative experiences with prisoners. To render all challenges in their work it’s important to build up resiliency. One of the means to stimulate resilience is organized reflection. It is described how guided by experts, reflecting on own experiences can contribute to resilience of prison employees and strengthen their learning capacity. That is done by literature study and a description of experiences with organized reflection in PI Vught.

Academic researchers in the Netherlands working on organized crime often make use of police files. This produces a lot of knowledge and helps building and testing theories about organized crime. However, it is also known that police files have their limitations. This article uses the concept of ‘street-level bureaucracy’ to explain some of these limitations. For instance, routines and biases can influence the way an investigation is conducted, i.e. avoiding or not following up certain lines of enquiry. Researchers who make use of case file analysis should therefore keep in mind the extent to which an investigation team functioned as a street-level bureaucracy.

This article discusses relations between social science, education, and professional practice, and focuses on the impact of scientific research on police profession. The importance of knowledge transfer is clearly articulated in the strategic research agenda of the Dutch police. Police researchers are expected not only to do proper and relevant practice oriented research on aspects of security and policing, but also to contribute to the impact of scientific knowledge on the education of (future) professionals. This asks for an association with teachers, since they are in a key position regarding further knowledge transfer. Compelling examples of other sectors, like healthcare, may inspire the police to rethink key roles of teachers in that respect.

Since ages Roma people, in a formal context often described as multi problem families from Roma origin, constitute a large minority in Europe, about 8 to 12 million people. For that reason alone they are an important subject of scientific research. Research, which according to critics, often suffers from unilateral thinking, simplification, speculation and generalization. However, the fact that scientific insights rarely find their way to or are used by professionals working with and for Roma people, is a serious omission which unfortunately is not only characteristic for this specific subject. In this case what we see is a Chinese Wall between theory on practice and theory in practice.
In my belief, and also according to my experience, a way exists in which this wall can be torn down. There’s a method available in which theory and practice do not exist next to each other but take each other into account and strengthen each other. This paper presents an account of (exemplary) action research which started early 2012 and is still ongoing. It is a methodological reflection on a process which a team of professionals working with and for Roma people went through and which is based mainly on the thesis Handelingsonderzoek als exemplarisch leren (1987) by the late Harrie Coenen.
First, the background and immediate cause of this research project are described. Followed by a short summary of principles, goals and characteristics of exemplary action research and a summary of the research process. Conclusively, I argue why this type of research is especially interesting for professional practice and consequently for Higher Vocational Education/Universities of Applied Sciences.

This article discusses the relationship between science and professional practice from the presumption that the two need and reinforce each other. The distinction between theoretical and applied research is rather small and maybe even fictional. This is also true for research in the area of public safety. However, we deal with a very specific area of research here that sometimes requires specific requirements concerning publications and trust.

The Custodial Institutions Agency (Dienst Justitiële Inrichtingen - DJI) is responsible for the incarceration of offenders, the restoration of the legal order and reducing the risk of recidivism. DJI thereby provides a unique contribution to the security of society. An individualised approach of offenders and a focus on staff expertise are at the heart of the DJI strategy.
Knowledge management can make a significant contribution to achieving these objectives. Knowledge management aims at injecting penal policy as well as practice with knowledge.
To obtain this knowledge DJI has appealed to science for quite some time. This has resulted in various forms of cooperation. This article describes the principles of this cooperation and gives many examples of ongoing cooperation. Knowledge management within DJI has to deal with two bottlenecks in particular: (1) the articulation of the exact need for knowlegde (‘asking the right questions’) and (2) the use of available relevant knowledge on behalf of penal policy and practice.

Young people in residential health care are experimenting with sexual behavior and sexual boundaries just like other young people do. But unlike youth in ‘normal’ circumstances, they often face an increased risk of becoming victims or perpetrators of sexual problematic behavior. Professionals often find it difficult to deal adequately with sexual behavior. The ‘Flag system’ is a method that helps them to assess sexual behavior adequately by applying six criteria, and rate satiation with four different ‘flags’ (green = normal behavior, yellow = risky behavior, red = mildly sexual abusive behavior, black = severely sexual abusive behavior). It provides guidelines to react in a way that supports normal behavior and addresses problematic behavior. A set of drawings illustrate situations that range from normal sexual behavior to severely abusive behavior, which can be used to discuss with young people or with colleagues. The original Flag system was developed by Sensoa, a Belgian experts center on sexuality. The original version was developed for use with children from 0 to 18, and therefore an adaptation was necessary to fit the needs of adolescents in residential youth care.
In a 4-year project, a partnership of researchers, program developers and professional educators, all experts in sexual health, develops an adapted version of the Flag system. The project provided a theoretical underpinning for the method, and a conceptual framework of goals and activities for the training program that is mandatory for those who want to work with the Flag system in a professional context. Also, drawings and guidelines were adapted to the context of residential youth care. This version is currently piloted in twelve institutions for residential youth care. Also, schools for higher professional education in social work are involved in a number of project activities to enhance their training programs in order to improve knowledge, skills and comfort of future youth workers to discuss sexual matters with young people.

The dynamic traffic control is an important detection method for Dutch police officers. In December 2015 the appeal court in Amsterdam stated that dynamic traffic control is illegal. This article explains what dynamic traffic control is and which varieties exist. Secondly the article debates whether or not dynamic traffic control is in conflict with the prohibition of the misuse of powers. It is explained that this depends on what kind of dynamic traffic control is carried out and which vision is followed.