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.

Although group workers in juvenile correctional facilities (JCFs) are restricted in their actions by many rules and regulations, they still have the opportunity for tailor-made actions. Based on Lipsky’s (2010) theory of ‘street-level bureaucracy’ this article explains what this discretion means for group workers in JCFs and how they deal with it. Based on 24 interviews with group workers, this article outlines how they exercise discretion in a context where group dynamics and dealing with emotions affect their actions to an important degree. In addition, this article describes how group workers deal with dilemmas they encounter.

De 49e jaarvergadering van de Vereniging voor Gezondheidsrecht vond april 2016 plaats. Tijdens het inhoudelijke gedeelte lichtten prof. dr. M.J.M.H. Lombarts, mr. A.C. de Die, drs. H.C. van Eyck van Heslinga MMC en mr. A. Hammerstein hun bijdrage aan het preadvies ‘Functioneren en disfunctioneren’ toe. Aan de orde kwam het (dis)functioneren van zorgprofessionals en bestuurders en het belang van de professionele toezichthouder binnen zorginstellingen. Coreferaten over het voorkómen van disfunctioneren, onder verwijzing naar de mogelijkheid tot het instellen van commissies voor advies en begeleiding (zoals door de NVvH) en vanuit organisatiekundige optiek, werden gehouden door respectievelijk prof. dr. J.H. van Bockel en dr. H.K.J.M. de Sonnaville. Tijdens de goedbezochte vergadering werd daarmee een brede blik op het onderwerp geboden.

The article is an ethnographical study of Rotterdam’s experience with a program called ‘Community Governs’ (Buurt Bestuurt). Community Governs, a Dutch version of the Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy (CAPS), is a community-based program which goal is to solve neighbourhood crime and disorder problems. Community commitment and involvement are a main component of this program. The article emphasizes the effects that this program had on three levels of trust (performances, intentions and skills) of the residents in police officers and municipal service agencies as partners in the fight against crime and disorder. The results indicate that a ‘positive exercise’ of liberty through political participation of civilians is difficult to realise in poor, inner city, neighbourhoods.

This paper presents the results of a study on Street Pastors in Cardiff, capital city of Wales. Street Pastors are Christian volunteers who look after (intoxicated) people in the nightlife district. In so doing, they provide security through empathy and care. The motives of Street Pastors to engage with partygoers are multi-layered, but their personal faith appears as a key explanation. A certain kind of orthodox ‘certitude’ of being safe (and saved) in a Higher Power gives the pastors their strength to go out on the street, face the unknown and feel compassion for their fellow citizens.

This article summarizes the results of a study into new innovative forms of volunteer work which could possibly help the Dutch National Police to increase the number of volunteers. The empirical data were collected by a desk study, the analysis of five case studies and two focus groups. Three different themes were analyzed: mobilizing target groups, matching expectations, and formalization and institutionalization of volunteering work. Public organizations in general don’t realize enough the value of volunteers. Often there is lack of a clear vision, while more attention should go to managing expectations, customization, furthering the education of police volunteers, acceptance and support, guidance and support, recognition, appreciation and reward, and finally more room for volunteers.

The article is an ethnographical study of a program called ‘Community Governs’ (Buurt Bestuurt) in Rotterdam’s neighborhood Hillesluis. ‘Community Governs’ is a community-based program which goal is to solve crime and disorder problems. The article investigates the role of the local government in this program. Three different roles are discerned: (1) performance, (2) procedural justice, and (3) participation. The results indicate that to the residents of Hillesluis the performance by the local government is the cornerstone of ‘Community Governs’.

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.

De maatschappij verwacht in toenemende mate dat toezichthouders de effecten van hun toezicht inzichtelijk maken. Dat geldt ook voor de Belastingdienst. Dit artikel bespreekt de theorie en de praktijk van effectmeting in het fiscale domein en levert zo een bijdrage aan de ontwikkeling van effectmeting van het (overheids)toezicht. Vastgesteld wordt dat in de praktijk een aantal uitdagingen het hoofd moet worden geboden wil de Belastingdienst daadwerkelijk tot een integrale effectmeting van het toezicht komen. Dit zijn: het expliciteren van de beleidstheorie, het vinden van de juiste determinanten van compliance, het meten van effecten van preventieve activiteiten, het opzetten van methodologisch verantwoord onderzoek en de organisatorische inbedding van effectmeting.

Law enforcement around the world, including the Netherlands, is currently experimenting with predictive policing: policing based on crime predictions. Big Data on past crimes and the help of sophisticated machine learning enable police to use reliable predictions about when and where the next offense will take place. If the effectiveness of policing actions is stored in the system, it can also predict which intervention is most effective. This is called prescriptive policing. The authors explain how these methods work, how reliable and effective they are and which associated risks can be identified. The authors emphasize that legal, ethical and organizational safeguards are necessary for a responsible implementation.