Many articles have dealt with the question why restorative justice in cases of intimate partner violence (IPV) may or may not be appropriate. Seeing however as a punitive approach towards IPV is rapidly losing popularity as an effective way of dealing with this complex type of violence, as well as the outcomes of a recent study by the European Agency for Fundamental Rights (2014) – where 25% of the Dutch women that were surveyed indicated they had experienced violence by an intimate partner – restorative justice may be a promising alternative after all.
Instead of adding to the debate, the current article focuses on how restorative justice can be constructed to be appropriate for IPV cases, and is explorative in nature. In order to do so, the theory behind transformative learning is combined with restorative justice practices, shifting the focus from ‘restoration’ to ‘restorative transformation’. Such a restorative transformative learning approach focuses on transforming violent meaning perspectives that dictate the use or toleration of violence. Instead of trying to restore the individual back to the state they were in before the violence took place – as ‘restoration’ traditionally implies – the goal of restorative transformative learning is to restore the individual back to a state before a violent meaning perspective was acquired. The transformation of violent meaning perspectives is therefore the prerequisite for restoration.
The method that is introduced in this article offers a practical framework and guidelines to achieve such a transformation. It answers to the complexity of IPV cases by focusing on the entire family system, while leaving room for individual restoration. In doing so, restorative transformative learning may possibly open the way to the acceptance of restorative justice in the field of IPV.

Eleven Teams against Child Abuse Images and Transnational Child Sex Offences (TBKKs) are operating within the Dutch National Police Force. This study provides an in-depth analysis of the resilience of criminal investigators working in these teams and how they perceive and cope with daily work stressors. Observational studies within five TBKKs and 35 semi-structured interviews with child pornography investigators revealed that managing their heavy caseloads, classifying abusive images, dealing with suspects and conducting home searches can sometimes be (very) challenging. Despite these demanding work aspects, investigators experience low levels of stress. By employing emotional detachment, self-reflection, workload regulation, social support and meaningfulness, they overcome the stress of investigating internet child exploitation. However, successful implementation of these resilience-enhancing strategies depends on the availability of several individual and organizational resources. To reduce the risk of health problems and to stimulate positive functioning, these resources require permanent investment from police management and investigators themselves.

Honour-related emotions such as shame, guilt, anger, distrust and pride play a critical role in regulating the response to a traumatic event and the severity of posttraumatic stress symptoms. Crimes with the intent to cause harm to a person include, to a greater or lesser extent, a component to overpower and humiliate. Such traumatic experiences can, especially in more collectivist cultures, lead to a complex mix of posttraumatic guilt and shame. In order to restore honour, posttraumatic shame or guilt can lead to violence. Together with posttraumatic stress symptoms such as flashbacks and hyperarousal it may even lead to excessive violence.

For several years the Netherlands has been facing group violence around football matches and other recreational events. Offenders involved may be characterized as notorious troublemakers, incidental offenders or ‘new hooligans’. Notorious troublemakers and new hooligans actively look for risky situations. Their behavior is related to both contextual factors and individual predispositions. In contrast incidental offenders get involved in public disorder only due to a combination of circumstances. (Individual) disruptive behavior during public disorder therefore has different underlying causes. A combination of a person-centered approach, early identification of potential notorious troublemakers and situational prevention measures are important pillars for future policy and police practice.

Since Islam stands for a total way of life, it also includes a vision on crime and punishment. According to several (Muslim)scholars the Sharia contains not so much a message of revenge and retribution but rather one of compassion, forgiveness and mercy. Much depends on which sections of the holy sources of Islam are read and subsequently how these sections are interpreted. However, fact is that – in the context of quite a number of criminal offences – Islamic criminal law gives room for restorative practices. These practices prove to be more beneficial with regard to the realization of remorse, forgiveness and reconciliation than the regular criminal process. Since restorative practices form an intrinsic part of (pre-modern) Islamic criminal law and since more and more initiatives are being developed nowadays to incorporate such practices in (modern) Western criminal law, it is of fundamental importance to take note of Islamic criminal law. Before focusing in this contribution on the role of restorative practices, remorse and forgiveness in Islamic criminal law, first the position of victims in criminal law under influence of Islam and Christianity will be discussed on the basis of the ideas of the Dutch victimologist Jan van Dijk. Furthermore, attention will be paid to the decline of mysticism in Islam and to the possible consequences and risks thereof – also for the role of restorative practices, remorse and forgiveness in Islamic criminal law.

This article discusses the complex relations between the organizational fields of safety (i.e. disaster and crisis response) and security (i.e. crime prevention and public order), and the ways in which disciplinary and organizational boundaries make it difficult to come to a better integration or coordination in the safety and security domain. Based on results of a research project on cooperation and information-sharing between organizations in the fields of safety and security, the authors argue that it is not realistic to refer to safety and security as relatively independent fields. Instead, it would be more useful to approach it as a connected domain, encompassing both safety and security disciplines. Yet, the separation of the two fields is strongly embedded in the culture and responsibilities of organizations in these fields, which reinforces the disciplinary boundaries in the domain. Nevertheless, in the last few years it seems that there is an increasing recognition of the need for multidisciplinary collaboration in the safety and security domain. This paper explores possible directions for creating more coherence and integration in the safety and security domain. The authors believe that much progress can be made if key stakeholders in the safety and security domain are able to adopt a broader, multidisciplinary perspective when approaching safety and security events.

There are numerous situations in which human behavior may escalate; in which persons lose self-control, get abusive, aggressive, and cross behavioral boundaries they would normally not cross. Such situations may occur in crowded outdoor situations (public events, urban night life) as well as in small-scale indoor settings (prisons, service & help desks, psychiatric wards). The De-escalate project studies the utilization of dynamic lighting in preventing escalation and in defusing aggressive situations. In De-escalate, Eindhoven University of Technology cooperates with governmental and non-profit organizations, and commercial partners to develop and test mechanisms for de-escalation through light, for example, by lowering arousal, inducing positive mood, broadening attention, increasing self-awareness and self-control. The project aims to broaden our understanding of the effects of light in controlled laboratory studies, and will develop and test methods of de-escalation through light in situ; in two escalation-prone real life settings including Eindhoven’s inner-city entertainment area Stratumseind.

The focus of this contribution is on the esoteric view on mankind as depicted in Mozart's opera The Magic Flute. Within this context, the stages of development of the conscience and soul that a man can go through will receive additional attention. This development can also be influenced by external factors. According to esotericists, the purpose or destination of man is that he comes into contact with his divine nature, but also that he identifies himself with this nature and that he will live in accordance with it. Such a life can be characterized by wisdom and love and therefore by virtue (charity), which is the opposite of sin or mis-doing. Before the identified development of man can be visualized based on The Magic Flute, this opera firstly needs to be embedded in the tradition of the freemasonry (‘Royal Art’) and other, older initiation schools. It is therefore important to recognize that the esoteric view on mankind has historical roots and that, only in recent centuries, this view has been marginalized, due to the rise of the scientific view on mankind. Finally, the question is posed what criminal law and restorative justice can learn from the esoteric view on mankind. In response to this question, a starting point will be presented of the development of a spiritual life-cycle approach, which complements the existing life-cycle approach and the related desistance theories within contemporary criminology. Furthermore, the concept of interconnectedness, which plays an important role in the context of the esoteric views on mankind, will be connected to a restorative crime approach, which provides restorative justice with spiritual legitimization.

Ex-neuroloog; strafvervolging; hulpeloosheid; voorwaardelijke opzet; mishandeling

Nightlife violence is gaining increasing attention and is a substantial part of all violent incidents. In this article we explore the assumption that going out in metropolitan clubs and bars creates a specific moral setting, where the aim is to let yourself go. The main question in this article is to what extent the moral setting of going out contributes to nightlife related violence. We explored this issue by analyzing the case of Amsterdam, in particular the two famous squares, Leidseplein and Rembrandtplein, and de Wallen (red light district). With regard to the moral setting we distinguish between physical, social, professional and normative aspects of the moral setting. Each of these aspects has been described in academic literature as potentially contributing to violence. On that basis a checklist has been developed that was used for observations in nightlife venues that are known for either a high or low disproportionate amount of violent incidents. By comparing the two categories we were able to identify elements of the moral setting which, supported by the literature, can be expected to contribute to the prevalence of nightlife violence. Elements which we discovered that occur more frequently in venues where many incidents occur are visitor density, the loudness of the music, the presence of smokers, the overall comfort, the opportunity to dance, the presence of drunken visitors and their degree of intoxication, overtly sexually charged behavior, opportunities for the staff to observe, security at the exit, the number of bouncers, and whether visitors were searched or not before they entered the venue. Whether situations actually developed into violent conflict depended on one of three possible causes, namely miscommunication, conflict with authority or unsolicited advances. Policymakers can use these insights in order to try to manipulate violence stimulating factors.

Both in punishment theory and sentencing practices, the subjective sentence severity is an important yet neglected area of research. This paper aims to explain differences between inmates in their subjective severity of imprisonment and to contemplate these against the background of important sentencing goals and sentencing principles. Two models commonly used to explain adjustment to prison life were applied: the import and deprivation model. Data from the Prison Project, collected among Dutch inmates staying in pretrial detention, reveal that both import and deprivation characteristics are related to the subjective severity of imprisonment. No support is found for a moderation effect of personality.

Several reports and publications criticise the Dutch police for discriminating against minorities during stop-and-search actions. This article argues that discrimination can be found in the police but not to the extent that the critics suggest. Recent research on stop-and-search practices in a large Dutch city suggests that the police treat youth with a minority background differently but that they don’t treat them unequally. The article concludes with a warning against the use of the expression ethnic profiling, because it hinders correction of discrimination by the police.