116

The Dutch have seen their prison population decrease by more than 40% over the past 20 years. At the other end of the spectrum, Britain has the highest rate of incarceration in western Europe, and is struggling with an unprecedented prisons crisis. Britain’s minister of prisons, James Timpson, calls the Netherlands a source of inspiration.

What could the Dutch system teach the rest of the world? First, the declining prison population is not actually the result of recent policies by visionary politicians. Much of it is due to changes in reported crime and the nature of crime. As in many other western countries, the number of violent crimes has significantly dropped in the Netherlands in recent decades.

This does not necessarily mean that there is actually less crime overall, as Dutch criminologist Francis Pakes, professor at the University of Portsmouth, who has studied the reasons for the emptying Dutch prisons, told me: “There is less conventional, violent crime, like murder. On the other hand, a lot of conventional crime went online and is less visible. And it is quite possible that there is a kind of organised crime that we have little visibility on. But fewer serious cases are coming to the police and courts.” And so fewer people end up in jail.

But while the Dutch don’t have a model policy the world can copy, the overall Dutch attitude towards imprisonment could be instructive. According to Pakes, the Dutch are much more aware that a stay in prison does more harm than good. Society may be rid of a criminal for a while, but in many cases, criminals simply resume their activities when they leave prison. They may become more ruthless, due to the violent prison climate in which they have had to survive. And perhaps they have a wider criminal network that they built up behind bars.

This also applies to shorter sentences. Even these can completely turn an offender’s life upside down. You can lose your job, home and social network. And you rarely become a better person during a short stay in jail.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] krimson@lemmy.world 18 points 1 month ago

This article draws a very colorful picture of our country lol.

Fact of the matter is it is turning into a narco state quickly with drug related shootings and bombings happening almost daily.

Police and the justice system in general is understaffed.

So please do not learn from us, we're far from a role model.

[-] jgkawell@lemmy.world 8 points 1 month ago

Do you have any articles discussing this? I'm interested to learn more as someone who doesn't live there.

[-] krimson@lemmy.world 10 points 1 month ago

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-50821542

You can find some more if you do a quick search on netherlands drug violence. Politicians are ignoring this problem completely. It's a growing problem in other European countries as well, Sweden for example.

[-] undergroundoverground@lemmy.world 6 points 1 month ago

Its a massively growing problem in many European countries. The UK is having the same issues but some of the strictest laws on drugs in Europe.

At least you get some tax money back from it, unlike us.

load more comments (2 replies)
this post was submitted on 14 Oct 2024
116 points (94.6% liked)

World News

32317 readers
1107 users here now

News from around the world!

Rules:

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS