In this article we examine which factors are correlated to the rehabilitation of prisoners. Central is the prisoners’ willingness during their imprisonment to work on a successful return in society. Assumptions derived from the theory were statistically tested with data from the Dutch Detainee Survey 2014; a large-scale study, in which prisoners held in all Dutch penitentiary institutions (N = 29) were surveyed (n = 2120). The results are in line with the theory and show that detainees are more positive about their (potential for) rehabilitation when they are more satisfied with a) the way they are treated by correctional officers (staff orientation); b) active deployment of the so-called Detention and Re-integration Plan; c) their daily program and activities, and; d) the experienced autonomy and personal decision-making. These outcomes offer fruitful perspectives on how the prison system can promote a successful return of prisoners in our society.

To improve security in crowded environments, such as airports, shopping malls and railway stations, the number of surveillance cameras (CCTV) is rapidly increasing. However, the number of human operators remains limited and only a selection of the video streams can be observed. This makes it hard for an operator to be proactive. This paper gives an overview of novel developments that may lead to more efficient camera surveillance and a more proactive role for camera operators. It focuses on three main steps in this process of video content analysis: pedestrian tracking, action recognition and behavior analysis. Tracking and re-identification (i.e. recognizing a person in another camera) was initially only evaluated on off-line benchmark datasets, though recently it has gained in maturity with live demonstrations in realistic crowded environments and measured improved operator efficiency. For action recognition and automatic behavior recognition, we observe that the simple patterns, such as loitering detection, are emerging in many applications. Human action recognition obtains very high performance values in controlled environments and it is progressing towards more realistic environments. More advanced approaches, such as pickpocket recognition in a shopping mall and the detection of threats to trucks on a parking lot have been developed and the first systems have been presented in live demonstrations. Our main contribution is that we structure the recent advances and the emerging applications of video analysis for security applications, explain and interpret the results, and identify opportunities for the near future.

In an attempt to reduce re-offending rates in the Netherlands, the Dutch government has developed the Prevention of Recidivism program, which started in 2002. The current study aims to describe the content of this program, and aims to give an overview of the state of the art concerning the execution and effectiveness of the program. Results show that the number of detainees taking part in the program is fairly limited. Moreover, in many cases, correctional interventions are not part of the imposed rehabilitation program. An extensive literature study shows that the execution of the Prevention of Recidivism program and various correctional intervention show a number of implementation problems, which probably hamper the program’s effectiveness. However, further research is necessary to assess if the Prevention of Recidivism program successfully lowers recidivism rates amongst program participants.

This article attempts to interpret and critically discuss the concept of incapacitation as a motive in the response to crime. Research shows that incapacitation – disabling or hindering people to commit offences – increasingly presents an important motive in the response to crime. This tendency is explored by several researchers in a new book titled Incapacitation: Trends and New Perspectives (Ashgate 2012). This tendency presents itself by the expansion of various modes of and grounds for detention, but also in the increase of other kinds of incapacitative measures, as well as in the fact that also administrative measures outside criminal law increasingly contain incapacitative elements. This tendency towards incapacitation of possible (re-)offenders can also be witnessed in contemporary politics. Examples discussed here are the intensive application of preventive custody, disqualifications, restraining orders accompanied by electronic monitoring, as well as administrative measures aimed at refusing certificates of good conduct or permits for specific commercial activities. It is argued that incapacitation often is not a proportionate and effective approach against crime. It appears to obscure the perspective on possibly more effective attempts to secure future behavior.

The Dutch aftercare for former prisoners is strongly developing. This article describes lessons from international experiences with aftercare for former prisoners in three areas of life: alcohol and drug problems, work and housing. Moreover, it discusses which lessons are especially relevant for the Dutch system. The analysis of the literature shows to what extent and under which conditions voluntary aftercare can affect reintegration and recidivism. Conclusions are that various aftercare programs do affect recidivism to some extent, but that the level of success differs substantially across programs and across subpopulations of former prisoners. Both programs that start during detention and continue after release and programs that combine multiple services (e.g. housing services and drug treatment) are most successful. Work programs have the strongest effects for older individuals. In all three areas of aftercare studied in this article, the strongest program effects were found for subpopulations with the highest risk of recidivism. The review also shows that communication between organizations and the integration of services are very important for the success of aftercare programs.

A part in Dutch penal law defines money laundering as ‘any person who acquires an object, possesses it, hands it over or sells it or makes use of an object, knowing that the object originates – directly or indirectly – from an offense’. Under object is meant any goods and any property rights. With this in mind, the author argues that whoever knows that money (the object) is derived from crime, but spends the money anyway, is committing a money laundering offense. Taking the argument one step further, it is therefore a reasonable hypothesis that a large number of wives or girlfriends of criminals, have been prosecuted for money laundering. That is, if the women knew that the money they spent was obtained through crime. To test the hypothesis, 62 cases dealing with organized crime were selected and analyzed. These cases largely focus on male perpetrators of drug crimes, money laundering, human smuggling and human trafficking. It turns out that the women often knew their male friends or husbands were involved in crime. The women also profited of these crimes because they used their friends’ expensive cars, lived in large mansions and often went shopping for luxury items. Still, hardly anyone was prosecuted for money laundering offenses. Several explanations were found, ranging from pity of officers, an overload of work, absence of direct proof or simply male chauvinist bias. Only if the women were actively involved in other crimes, would they find themselves prosecuted with (among others) money laundering offenses.

The social network approach is gaining influence among criminologists studying organized crime and terrorism. The theoretical concept, however, still needs further elaboration. To this end, concepts developed within the field of economic sociology could provide a substantial contribution. Economic sociologists have, among other things, focused on the role of social networks with regard to the completion of economic transactions. They regard mutual trust built through personal relations as an essential part of economic transactions, particularly if these imply certain risks for the parties involved. In other words, before transactions materialize, the parties must first be able to establish trustworthy personal relations. Based on these ideas, Spapens introduced in 2006 the theoretical concept of the criminal macro network, being a social network consisting of individuals able and willing to engage in illegal activities. The capital of each member of the criminal network consists, on the one hand, of his links, defined as information relations, within the network. On the other hand, a person’s position is determined by personal knowledge and skills. It is assumed that executing an actual illegal activity – e.g. drug production, trafficking human beings, bank robbery – requires cooperation between a subset of members of the criminal network, the criminal group.An extensive study of xtc production in the south of the Netherlands between 1996 and 2004 revealed the existence of a ‘xtc network’ consisting of individuals interconnected by social relations. The macro network proved to be relatively stable over time. The composition of the criminal groups, however, changed regularly. This was not only explained by shifting business opportunities, but also by the efforts of the police and the Public Prosecution Service leading to convictions and the dismantling of criminal groups. Better knowledge of the functioning of the criminal macro network can provide valuable contributions to criminological understanding of organized crime. These insights are of course also of great practical importance for law enforcement agencies.