Children suffer differently from domestic violence as a witness of interparental violence than as direct victim of maltreatment or sexual abuse. In this article three different research samples of children as witnesses of domestic violence are compared with regard to the posttraumatic stress symptoms they show. One sample is a clinical population from mental health care for youth, one sample consists of children reported to a child maltreatment centre and one sample stems from a pilot study of referrals of domestic violence in families in the G4. In all three samples we find a much higher percentage of children with traumatic symptoms than in the normal population. The highest percentage of traumatized children (74%) we find in the clinical population. When we look at the parents we also find a high percentage of traumatized parents (31%), but more striking is the percentage of parents who themselves were involved (as a victim or witness) in domestic violence when they were children (60%). This leads to questions concerning the intergenerational transfer of domestic violence.

Homicides that take place in the family generally lead to shock and incomprehension in society at large. Even though in recent years the number of homicides in the Netherlands has decreased, domestic homicides still claim approximately sixty victims per year. This article aims to describe the nature and incidence of domestic homicide in the Netherlands by making use of both epidemiological data as well as detailed analyses of case reports of domestic homicides. In doing so, several types of domestic homicides are distinguished: intimate partner homicide, child homicide, parent and sibling homicide, multiple family homicide and finally, domestic homicide followed by suicide. The findings are discussed and put into perspective.

Van Stokkom endorses Pattyn’s criticism of principled ethics. It is more convincing to view ethics as a way to understand moral practices and moral experiences. For example, the ethical value of restorative justice practices resides in moral communication in which the participants strive for recognition. Nevertheless, Pattyn does not notice that moral justifications often rely on ethical principles. When we must make choices or introduce new policies, we often cannot escape justifications that fit in with ethical principles. Nevertheless, these principles may also paralyze or polarize discussions. In populist times – with its punitive rhetoric – it seems wise to keep public discussion at bay from ‘high restorative principles’ such as the ‘superfluity of punishment’ and concentrate on the narrative power of restorative justice practices.

Hoewel diverse grondrechten al sinds jaar en dag worden ingeroepen in Europese mededingingsprocedures, komen op deze grondrechten gebaseerde verweren nog iets minder voor in Nederlandse mededingingszaken. In deze bijdrage, die wegens haar omvang geen uitputtend overzicht vormt, zal nader worden ingegaan op een aantal grondrechtelijke leerstukken die in dat kader met name relevant lijken.

In the present study, the B-SAFER was coded for 146 files of spousal assault cases from the Dutch probation service. The aim of the study was twofold: (1) identifying subtypes of spousal assaulters and (2) examine the relationship between the subtypes found and the advice the probation officers gave to court. Four subtypes of assaulters were identified: family-only, generally violent/antisocial, low-level antisocial, and psychopathology. There was only a significant relationship between the subtypes and the advice on two of the ten advices. The type of advice showed a strong relationship with the region of the probation offices where the batterer was examined.

Large-scale violations of public order occur regularly in the Netherlands. The most startling riot of the last decade took place last summer on the beach of Hoek van Holland during the dance festival Sunset Grooves. In this riot as well as in other riots, hooligans play more and more a negative role. Put differently, they do not confine themselves to the riots at football matches, but they also show up at events, parties and in entertainment centres to disturb the peace. The article argues that the phrase ‘hooligan’ is in fact inappropriate. It is better to speak about notorious disturbers of the peace; people who are consciously looking for a stage and an opponent to disturb the peace.

The author discusses the potential of developmental mediation. In developmental mediation the focus of the mediator is on retaining, adding and creating.

Is the design of a city a decisive factor in the development of violent behavior by its inhabitants? The discussion following the 2005 riots in the French suburbs shows that many blame the concept of La Ville Radieuse and its most famous founding father, the architect Le Corbusier, for the social degeneration of the banlieues. For some critics, like the British author Theodore Dalrymple, this ‘totalitarian’ architecture symbolizes the evil of the welfare state with its social security, mass immigration, egalitarism and its elites with their blindness for the threat to the western Enlightenment values coming from these ‘black’ suburbs. However, the truth of urban development is that cities are fundamentally unpredictable. After several generations a building will be used in a completely different way than perceived, by people whose existence one wasn't aware of and in a social context one couldn't have predicted. This ‘natural’ development is labeled as the failure of a project, often leading to a policy of repression and demolition. However, local politicians, project developers and architects should realize that it's not their actions that determine the development of cities, but the way the inhabitants use and interpret their environment. They create their own city. Instead of replacing the inhabitants by demolishing their houses, we probably have no other choice than getting to know these quarters better and renovate these together with and for the local inhabitants.

A symposium took place in Utrecht on 22 April 2010 to bid John Bosnak farewell as President of the Dutch Association of Attorney Mediators. Presentations were given on European aspects of professional privilege for mediators, on the antecedents of the European mediation directive and on psychological pitfalls that await the mediator who tries to oppress his/her own emotional stress.

Little is known about children when the mothers are imprisoned. Especially in the Netherlands, hardly any empirical research has been conducted regarding the whereabouts and psychological well-being of children with incarcerated mothers. We visited and collected data from four female prisons. Via the mothers’ consent we contacted the children and their caregivers. First, we conducted a semi-structured interview about the wellbeing of the child during the separation through detention of mother and child. Second, we asked mothers and caregivers to complete checklists of behavioral problems. The caretaking situation turned out to be diverse. Generally, the children experienced both internalizing and externalizing behavioural problems and specific problems associated with the detention of their mothers. The well-being of the children seems to be partially related with the incarceration of the mother. However, it also turned out that quite a few risk factors such as a broken home and neglect is present for the child being raised. Results are discussed as well as some recommendations for future research.