The introduction in the Netherlands of the SOV measure in 2001, followed by the ISD Order in 2004, opened the opportunity for the courts to incarcerate systematic offenders, mostly addicts, for a period of two years. During the period of imprisonment convicted are offered various programs to kick their habits and tackle their other problems. The article assesses the social costs and benefits of the SOV/ISD measure. The analysis takes account of the improvement in general health and productivity of the participants, and models the crime reduction effects through special prevention, incapacitation and general deterrence. Substituting results from the first effectiveness study of the SOV program, which by the way only covers one follow-up year, it is calculated that the SOV/ISD measure may yield a positive net result of as much as € 4 million per participant.

The Act introducing the Institution for Persistent Offenders Committal Order (ISD Order) took effect on 1 October 2004. The origins of the ISD Order are in safety policy. The order had a strong focus on imprisonment of persistent offenders. It can be seen as an exponent of the risk-oriented attitude towards safety, which has been predominant in recent years. At the start treatment of persistent offenders was of secundary importance and was only available for those who were motivated. But the ISD measure has had to deal with major problems in practice. The imprisoned ISD population proved to be one with complex problems like addiction, psychiatric illnesses and sometimes low intellectual abilities. The ISD institutions are ill-equipped for handling these people. The problems led to a slightly different attitude which is more oriented towards resocialization. Improvements are going on now, a process facilitated by a considerably improved co-operation between agencies around the ISD.

Recidivism after a community service is compared to recidivism after imprisonment in a matched sample of adult Dutch offenders. We use longitudinal, official record data to compare recidivism over a maximum of eight years. ‘Propensity score matching’ and ‘matching by variable’ are used to take selection-effects into account. After a community service offenders turn out to recidivate less than after a prison sanction.

This paper argues, against Pettit’s thesis about the incorporation of responsibility, that holding collective agents criminally responsible is necessarily either redundant or unfair: redundant if responsibility can be distributed without remainder over individual persons; unfair if it cannot. It should be the task of legal systems to create chains of individual criminal responsibility encompassing executives, officials, and members of corporate agents.

Inzicht in de rechterlijke straftoemetingsbeslissing is belangrijk voor de verdachte en de legitimiteit van het strafsysteem. Er is veel aandacht voor verbetering van de schriftelijke strafmotivering, maar niet voor de mondelinge. Maakt de rechter daarin wel duidelijk waarom hij een bepaalde straf oplegt?Na observatie van 86 politierechterzaken bleken factoren zoals geslacht, leeftijd, werksituatie en recidiverisico vaak wel ter zitting besproken te worden, maar niet (of zelden) terug te komen in de mondelinge motivering van de rechter. De rechter informeert dus vaak wel naar de omstandigheden van de verdachte, maar wat hij nu uiteindelijk met deze informatie doet, blijft onduidelijk.

This article reviews Dutch literature on collateral effects of incarceration on various life circumstances: psychological and physical health; social-economic status; well-being of partners of (ex-)prisoners; and well-being of children of (ex-)prisoners. Dutch research is predominantly descriptive and examines life circumstances of the prisoners and their family members during or just after imprisonment. Additionally, almost all Dutch studies, aiming to investigate the causal effects of incarceration on life circumstances, are characterised by methodological shortcomings, such as a lack of a longitudinal design or control groups. Therefore, it is still difficult to draw conclusions on the causal effects of imprisonment on life trajectory.

Incarcerated women have specific characteristics, needs, health problems, and have different experiences and adjustment problems to prison than men. Based on a survey of 251 female inmates, this paper analyses the association between imported factors, deprivation factors and psychological complaints. Depressive complaints, irritability, and risk of self-harm were all predicted through examination of both imported and deprivation factors. Psychological problems before detention was the most significant imported factor predicting psychological complaints. The most important deprivation factors were treatment by staff and other inmates and environmental stress. Posttraumatic stress complaints were predicted only by imported factors (traumatic events and psychological problems before detention). Next to the importation and deprivation factors, this paper suggests inclusion of a third group of factors: relations with children and family, which may be an independent group of factors in addition to the factors related to the prison environment.

Stef Decoene reviews Ik heb niets beters te doen written by C. de Ruiter and B(l)ooming Business? written by R.R.J.M. Vermeiren.